


Painted Wings

by ImPanDuh



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, First Dates, First Meetings, Fluff, I don't really know where im going with this yet, Insecure Yachi, Kinda, M/M, Mostly Canon Compliant, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tsundere Tsukki, inconsistent writing style probably, insecure Tsukishima, slowburn, some background Asahi/Nishinoya/Sugawara, some past one-sided Tsukishima/Yamaguchi hinted at, will tag more as story continues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-06-18 18:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15492441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImPanDuh/pseuds/ImPanDuh
Summary: Tsukishima Kei didn’t always hate the concept of soulmates. No, when he was younger he would stand in front of the mirror and stare at his tattoo and wonder in what kinds of colors it would paint out if he met them.But with the years he grew older, his resentment towards soulmates grew. He hated the thin lines that spread across his back broadly, signaling that he would have to get along with more than one person for the rest of his life, once he met them.





	1. Meeting Number 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’m like one of the two people who do stuff for 3rd gym and include Hinata and Lev and lemme tell you, it’s a hard life to live.

_In this world, people were born with the thin black outline of a tattoo somewhere on their body. These tattoos weren’t unique to one person, but were shared with someone else. Sometimes people had multiple tattoos or more than two people shared a tattoo, it was an unproven theory that the bigger your tattoo was, the more soulmates you’d have._

_Once when you met your match, your tattoo would start to fill out in all kinds of colors, first just a little, until you would notice it and realize who your match was, then it would start to fill out completely. Tattoos from people who shared a tattoo with more than one other person wouldn’t fill out until they met all their matches._

_People who shared a tattoo were..._

_Soulmates._

_It was up to the pair to decide if their relationship was platonic or romantic. Most Soulmates would go for a romantic relationship. It was also known that people of the same gender could be soulmates, but society would still shun them if they chose to be romantic. And even if it was known to be a normal thing happening, people with multiple soulmates weren’t completely welcomed either._

Tsukishima Kei didn’t always hate the concept of soulmates. No, when he was younger he would stand in front of the mirror and stare at his tattoo and wonder in what kinds of colors it would paint out if he met them. 

He would wonder what kinds of people his soulmates were or when he’d meet them. What they looked like. What their voice sounded like. He even wondered a little about what gender they’d have or if their relationship would be platonic or romantic.  
Eventually he figured out, if his soulmate was a girl, he would actually prefer a platonic relationship, despite whatever society said, about matches of the opposite gender having to be romantic. He had been told early on that he’d probably have multiple soulmates, considering the size of it. 

But with the years he grew older, his resentment towards soulmates grew. He hated the thin lines that spread across his back broadly, signaling that he would have to get along with more than one person for the rest of his life, once he met them. That more than one person would be stuck with him and have to endure his terrible personality. 

He figured he wouldn’t have hated it so much if maybe Yamaguchi would have been his match. But life hadn’t been so kind. He memorized the exact thin lines that covered his friends shoulder and drew them on his chest, stomach or thighs, somewhere, where no one would see. So no one would find out that he longed for his best friend to be his match. 

He despised the star-shaped flower on Yamaguchi shoulder, small enough to be a two-person soulmate tattoo, just as much as the spread out wings on his lower back. Not that he could ever tell Yamaguchi that. No, he loved the idea of someone out there being his perfect match, “his other half”. So, Tsukishima kept these thoughts to himself as much as he could and held back the scowl, when Yamaguchi dreamt about his own soulmate. 

Thankfully, Tsukishimas tattoo was on his back. He would only be able to see it if he tried and he didn’t, so he’d never find out if he met his soulmate or not and that was perfect for him. Too bad others could still see it. They had barely been a week in Highschool when Tsukishima Kei met the first one of his soulmates. 

—

“Hey, Tsukki! Your tattoo changed!”

That sentence alone made his blood run cold. His mind raced with the possibilities, trying to remember who he had met today and who he would try his best to avoid in the next three years. Until it stopped at two boys that could be it and that would be especially hard to avoid. Maybe he should just quit volleyball before risking that one of them could be his soulmate and find out while they were changing or whatever. His lips wobbled and his voice cracked the tiniest bit.

“What?”

Yamaguchi hummed, placing a calming hand on his blond friends shoulder, rubbing the naked skin a little. His voice was lower now, almost whispering. Even though Tsukishima tried to hold back his disgust, Yamaguchi still knew of his dislike towards the soulmate concept. Knew that it wasn’t completely dislike, but fear. 

“The outlines are more detailed and a little thicker now. There are little spots of orange filling it out, the style looks like watercolor spots. Ah! More are coming now. But it doesn’t nearly fill out the whole thing”. 

Tsukishima nodded briefly, before pulling his Pyjama shirt over his head and covering the hated wings on his back again. He swallowed heavily before speaking the next words. “Do you think it was one of those two?”, Yamaguchi seemed to think about it, humming a little as Tsukishima turned around to look at him. 

“Maybe, but I don’t think it was that Hinata-guy. He had the outline of a candle on his forearm, though it’s still possible he has two. I couldn’t see the kings tattoo, though”, he answered, watching Tsukishima carefully. The blond chewed on his lip for a bit, before scoffing playfully. “I really hope it isn’t the king, I could never get along with him”, he joked and Yamaguchi dropped the topic with a short laugh. 

—

Life wasn’t so kind as to drop the topic. Tsukishima would personally say he did a pretty good job of hiding his tattoo from the others in the volleyball club, in fear that one of them might be his soulmate or even just bring it up that he apparently met his soulmate. Even though they had to change together. He himself had done a pretty good job of not looking at anyone’s else back or chest or stomach to see if the same wings spread across their skin.

But he hadn’t been careful enough. It hadn’t even been long, maybe a few weeks, Nishinoya and Azumane just came back to the club, after a month of suspension. But Tanakas yelling drew the others attention to them. To the barely colored in wings on his back. 

“Whoa, Tsukishima! You met your soulmate already?!”, Tanaka’s yell made his blood run cold.  
“What?! Really! It looks kinda unfinished, though”, Nishinoyas voice joined him behind the blonds back. 

Tsukishima bit on his lip, staring into the depth of the metal locker. His grip on its door tightened, the sharp edges digging into his hand. If he was lucky the topic would stop here and no one else in this room had that tattoo. 

“Sharing a tattoo with multiple people isn’t that unusual, Noya. Asahis and mine looked similarly incomplete, before we met you”, Sugawara tried to lighten the tense mood, Tsukishimas silence created. Tanaka and Nishinoya hummed and Tsukishima already thought himself safe and pulled his practice shirt over his head to cover the hated lines on his skin again. 

“Whoa, wait, wait, wait a second! That’s MY tattoo!”

Tsukishimas eyes widened as he looked over his shoulder to stare at the person who voiced these damned words he hoped he’d never hear. 

Hinata stood there shirtless, pointing at the oh so similar wings that spread across his chest. The same orange spots colored it, that decorated Tsukishimas own tattoo. So focused on the damned lines and spots, the blond nearly missed the troubled look on Hinatas face. Nearly. 

Surely, he hated the idea of being Tsukishimas soulmate as much as he himself hated the idea of having a soulmate. Having soulmates. Surely, he’d be disgusted at the idea of having a soulmate the same gender as him. Surely he’d hate...

Tsukishima grabbed his bag, before anyone else could react and shut the door to the metal locker loudly. The loud clinging of metal against metal stunned everyone back into silence. “Tsukishi-“, Sawamura started, but the blond cut him off. 

“I’m going home early today”, he had only whispered the words, but they still seemed so loud in the quiet changing room. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Tsukishima didn’t care that he was wearing his practice shirt with his uniform pants. He hurriedly opened the door and threw it shut behind him. He didn’t care that he was being childish or unreasonable. Couldn’t care. His brain was being flooded by worst possible outcomes. The others making fun of him. Hinata looking at him with disgusted expressions and finding the rest of their soulmates alone. 

“Tsukki!”, Yamaguchi voice cut through his loud thoughts and Tsukishima stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Sorry, can you go home alone today, Yamaguchi?”, he really tried to raise his voice enough for Yamaguchi to hear, but he doubted it was enough. When he looked over his shoulder though, Yamaguchi stood at the top of the stairs, nodding. “Will you be fine?”, he asked, a worried expression on his face. Tsukishima thought for a second, before nodding once. 

The door to the changing rooms opened again. Hinata came out, shirtless, the damned wings on his chest still on display. “Tsukishima, wait!-“, he made a move to rush down the stairs, but Yamaguchi quickly stepped in front of the smaller boy, effectively blocking his way with spread out arms. He was such a good friend, better than anything Tsukishima maybe deserved. He knew he’d get scolded for skipping practice later, though. 

When Sugawara also came out of the door, Tsukishima quickly made his escape before anyone could stop him. He could hear Hinata yelling at him to wait and Sugawara questioning Yamaguchi if he’ll be fine, but he didn’t stop until he was out of eyesight. 

There he stopped, leaning against a wall, clutching at the fabric of his shirt. In his hurry to run away he had left his uniform shirt in the locker, his sport shoes too. Hopefully Yamaguchi would get them for him. 

A sob almost made its way past his lips, but he quickly pushed it back and tried to even out his breath. He couldn’t break down in the middle of the side walk. So, pushing himself of off the wall, Tsukishima hurried home, praying that his mother wouldn’t question why he was back so early. 

—

“You’re unbelievable, Tsukki”.

Tsukishima winced, but didn’t react otherwise, just buried his face deeper into the dinosaur plush. 

“I can’t believe it. Now you’re not even listening to me”, Yamaguchi complained. Tsukishima heard his steps coming to the bed and stiffened his pose, crouched on the bed, with his favorite plush hugged to his chest and face buried into the colorful T-Rex. Yamaguchis steps halted in front of him and Tsukishima glanced up the tiniest bit. His friend stood before him, hands on his hips, with a serious frown on his face. 

“It’s been _days_ , since we found out Hinata is one of your soulmates and _you’re still moping_. You haven’t talked to anyone in the club and you always leave the moment practice ends. I can’t believe this! You’re being so unnecessarily extra!”, Tsukishima knew he had a point, he just didn’t want to admit it. So he scowled enough for Yamaguchi to notice and shoved his face back into the plush. The brunet let out a frustrated groan and gripped at his own hair. “You’re so childish and spoilt! This is all Akiterus fault!”, he grunted, before huffing determined. This wasn’t the first time he got Tsukishima out of one of his episodes and it probably wouldn’t be the last. 

Yamaguchi grabbed the T-Rex plushie and tugged experimentally. Tsukishimas grip on it tightened and his posture stiffened. Yamaguchi grinned. If he wants to play like this, then fine, they would play like this. He got a better grip on the plush and tugged. _Hard_ this time. Tsukishima had to hold on even tighter, so the T-Rex wouldn’t be immediately ripped from him. Yamaguchi just knew the asshole was grinning by now and tugged at the toy again. It gave away a little, so he tugged harder and Tsukishima suddenly released his tight grip. Yamaguchi stumbled back surprised, ready enough for this outcome to just stumble back a few steps instead of falling on his ass like the first few times. 

Tsukishima really was grinning, trying to hold back his laughter. His glasses were a little crooked and he adjusted them. Yamaguchi smiled gently for a second, before covering it up with a grin. “You should know that Hinata doesn’t hate you, y’know. Which is a miracle in itself. You should at least tell him you don’t like soulmates”, Yamaguchi started, sitting down on the floor next to the bed, hugging the plush. Tsukishima groaned and fell back onto the bed. “I hate you”, he mumbled, clutching his pillow to his chest, but not hiding in it. 

“Or you could tell him the truth about being afraid of being hated or about being lied to due to your trust issues from your big brother lying to you and being bullied in middle school”, Yamaguchi continued leisurely. “ _I hate you_ ”, Tsukishima pressed, scowling down at his friend who just grinned back at him. 

“Fine, I’ll talk with him”, Tsukishima gave in, sighing, “but I won’t tell him _that_ ”. 


	2. No more Running

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What do you think they’ll be like?”, Natsu asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.  
> “They’re your perfect match, so I don’t think it makes any sense to think too much over it”, Hinata shrugged

_Growing up, Hinata always loved the concept of soulmates. The fact that someone was out there, who was his perfect match, who he would get along with easily._

Other kids made fun of him for his multiple tattoos and he heard their mothers talking with his mom in a concerned voice, no doubt disgusted with the large, multiple-soulmate tattoo on his chest and the small candle on his right forearm. But he didn’t care. More soulmates just meant more people to love, when he finally met them, is what his parents always told him. He couldn’t wait for his tattoos to finally have color. 

—

It happened fast and without warning. The outline grew thicker and spots of orange in varying sizes appeared. His chest tattoo finally gained color. But he’d met so many people today, passed so many new people in school. Just who could it be? He pulled at his hair and groaned in frustration. 

“Nii-san, you’re loud”, Natsu complained, standing in the door to Hinatas room. “Ah, sorry!”, he quickly apologized, turning to look at his little sister. She gasped, an excited grin spreading over her face. 

“You met one of your soulmates!”, she exclaimed, running to her brother and jumping up and down around him. “Yeah, well, I just don’t know who it is exactly”, Hinata grinned sheepishly, before picking Natsu up. The little girl still grinned, the outlines of the small stars that stretched across her jaw and neck down to her collarbone moved along. 

“You’re lucky, having more than one soulmate”, Natsu commented, tracing the outline of the wings on Hinatas chest. His grin turned into a small smile, staring at the orange spots of his tattoo. “You never know for sure how many people you share that tattoo with until you meet all of them”, his hand that wasn’t holding up Natsu joined her hand in tracing the new parts of his mark. 

“What do you think they’ll be like?”, she asked, leaning her head on Hinatas shoulder. “They’re your perfect match, so I don’t think it makes any sense to think too much over it”, he shrugged, adjusting his grip on Natsu. The little girl nodded, humming sleepily. Hinata smiled, bringing his sister into bed. 

——

_“Whoa, Tsukishima! You met your soulmate already?!”_

Hinata perked up at that. He had never seen Tsukishimas soulmate tattoo, now that he thought about it. But Tsukishima seemed like the type to already know a few things regarding dating stuff, maybe had had a girlfriend or two. 

“What?! Really! It looks kinda unfinished, though”, that sounded weird. Did Tsukishima have a big tattoo like he did? Curious, he turned around to look. 

A familiar outline of a pair of wings met his eyes, the same orange spots partly decorating it came into his vision. His own tattoo was decorating the lower back of Tsukishima. It made sense, his tattoo started coloring the evening he met him and Yamaguchi. Though they didn’t get along as smoothly as he imagined soulmates getting along. 

Hinata knew Sugawara said something, but he just couldn’t make out what, with his entire being focused on the fact that _Tsukishima Kei_ , resident tall asshole and salt shaker occasionally somewhat nice guy, was _his soulmate_. It seemed almost absurd, but also fit so well. He couldn’t deny that Tsukishima wasn’t all bad. He thought they even got a bit along and with a bit of work on both sides, maybe they could really work out. 

Wait, wait, Tsukishima hadn’t turned around even once during the conversation, he didn’t see Hinatas tattoo. The subject was dropping, he was loosing his chance to bring it up. 

“Whoa, wait, wait, wait a second! That’s MY tattoo!”

The words left his mouth without thinking and he almost regretted saying them, when Tsukishimas head turned to look at him. His eyes were widened and his shoulders were tense. He looked... scared. Tsukishimas gaze didn’t move from his chest and Hinata almost felt the urge to cover himself. But he couldn’t cover the tattoo he was so proud of. Not when Tsukishima seemed so unsure. So he withheld the stare and waited for the blonds next move. 

The sound of a locker being shut suddenly was the last thing he expected. He winced at the uncomfortable sound. Sawamura spoke up, but was cut off by the quiet tone of Tsukishimas voice. 

_“I’m going home early today”._

The way his voice cracked, the smallness of it was enough to break Hinatas heart. Tsukishima was nothing like the tall jerk they got to know over the past weeks. He seemed like a small, lost child now. Scared, alone. It left Hinata baffled enough to just stand there while Tsukishima walked out and threw the door closed behind him. Yamaguchi, who had been watching the scene quietly up till now, reacted immediately, storming out behind Tsukishima. 

“What... _was_ that...”, Tanaka stuttered, staring through the from Yamaguchi left open door. Everyone seemed surprised, unable to really think or process what happened. But Hinata just couldn’t stop thinking that he really didn’t want to leave Tsukishima alone now. Because he looked like he really didn’t want to be. 

“We... should probably let Yamaguchi and Tsukishima sort this out”, Sawamura managed to say and the others nodded. But Hinata couldn’t leave it at that. Because he didn’t want Tsukishima to think he abandoned him. So with clenched fists he ran out the door, stopping to see that Yamaguchi was standing at the top of the stairs, while Tsukishima had barely made it to the bottom. He could still catch up easily. 

“Tsukishima, wait!-“, as Hinata tried to run down the stairs, when Yamaguchi stepped into his path, blocking his way with outspread arms. A small frown appeared on Hinatas face, but it disappeared quickly as Sugawara came out of the changing room too. He didn’t try to move past Yamaguchi. 

Hinata tried to get past him, but Tsukishima was already on his way again. “Wait!”, he tried again, one hand clutching at his chest. At his soulmate tattoo. 

“Is he going to be okay?”, Sugawara seemed concerned. It was so like him. He always cared for everyone on the team, even if his methods were a little weird or questionable at times. Yamaguchi nodded. 

“Yeah, Tsukki just needs some time to sort himself out”, he paused, glancing at Hinata who was staring at Tsukishimas retreating back, “he isn’t exactly a fan of soulmates. There _are_ people who just don’t like the concept”. Sugawara nodded and put a hand on Hinatas shoulder. 

“Let’s give him some time then, yeah, Hinata?”, he suggested, voice low and soft. Hinata breathed in deeply. He let it out slowly, watching as Tsukishima disappeared behind the school gates. 

“Yeah”.

—

Hinata had held back the past few days. He didn’t mention that he knew who was one of his soulmates to anyone outside the club, didn’t even bring up the topic at any point. He did try to talk to Tsukishima, not about them being soulmates, just talking about anything. Because he wanted to be close to him. But Tsukishima always turned away, not answering and ignoring him. He almost seemed like a child, the way he tried to ignore the issue he didn’t like. So when Tsukishima came to him and asked if they could walk home together, Hinata was elated. 

“Of course! Just let me finish putting away the net and I’ll be right out!”, Hinata grinned at the taller boy, holding onto the volleyball net in his arms just a little tighter. Tsukishima nodded, looking away almost shyly. 

Hinata couldn’t help himself thinking the other looked cute with that expression. Chewing on his lip, brows furrowed together in a frown. It would normally seem like an upset or troubled expression, but the small red blush that decorated the delicate cheeks turned it into something shy and a little embarrassed.

“I’ll wait at the school gates then”, he murmured, still not meeting the others gaze. When Hinata nodded in affirmation, he left the gym without another word. 

A relieved sigh left Hinatas lips and a gentle smile crossed his features. It would work out, Tsukishima didn’t look like he was going to tell him that just because they’re soulmates it doesn’t mean he doesn’t hate him. Or something like that. 

“Oi, Dumbass! Stop being a lovesick idiot and put away that net!”, Kageyama yelled, sounding clearly pissed. Hinata startled out of his trance. He really hoped Tsukishima hadn’t heard that. If Tsukishima thought he had a crush on him, he might run away again. 

“I am not lovesick! I’m just glad my soulmate is _talking_ to me!”, he yelled back, stomping to the storage room to put away the net. After it was stored safely, Hinata quickly ran to the changing rooms to meet up with Tsukishima at the gates.

—

“Sorry I ran away”. 

Hinata stopped mid-bite. Tsukishimas voice was soft, just a murmur and he could have easily missed it, if he hadn’t concentrated his entire being on every movement of the blonde. Tsukishima wasn’t looking at him, never had since the incident a few days ago. He only stared at the meat bun in his hand. Hinata swallowed his bite and lowered the food into his lap, his own gaze never leaving Tsukishima, afraid he’d miss something. 

They had stopped at a store to buy meat buns and were seated on a bench in a park. Almost fifteen minutes passed since they came here and these were the first words either of them spoke. 

“Its fine. I was surprised, too. Yamaguchi told me you don’t like soulmates, so its understandable”, Hinata kept the _'I guess’_ to himself and smiled gently. He leant back and swung his legs a little. Tsukishima kept quiet, but he looked at Hinata now, even if it was only out of the corner of his eyes. It was a start. Hinata interpreted the others silence as his cue to keep talking. 

“I actually like the concept of soulmates. The idea that someone or maybe even more people out there are made to be with you is amazing to me. That there is someone out there that you’ll get along with without even trying”, he snorted a little, “But I guess I misinterpreted that part. We don’t really get along, but I still think we could, if we wanted to, that is. I really want to”. 

Tsukishima didn’t answer. He just sighed and leant back, his arm bumping against Hinatas shoulder. He looked up at the clear night sky, fingers tightening on his untouched meat bun. 

“Would you want to get along with me if you didn’t know we were soulmates?”

“Huh?”, that was probably the wrong way to answer, but the question just seemed so absurd to him. He had tried to befriend Tsukishima even before he knew they were soulmates, so asking that...

Tsukishima sat up, brows furrowed together in a scowl. “What do you mean ‘Huh?’?”, he looked serious. And angry. Hinata flinched back, confused. “I mean, you didn’t like me before, right? So, why would you suddenly like me now? Just because some dumb tattoo says we have to like each other or get along?”, Tsukishima was quieter now, hunching his shoulders. His gaze was directed at the ground. His honey colored eyes shimmered in the dim light of the lamp posts and the moon. “I’ve been nothing but a jerk so far after all, so why would anyone like me?”, he whispered in a broken voice, fingers clenching and unclenching on the meat bun. 

“I dont think you’ve been nothing but a jerk. I like you”.

The words were out before Hinata even thought them out properly. But he meant it. Tsukishima had been a jerk, sometimes. But he had also been patient at times, a good player, tactful, strategical and seemed nice and funny when talking with Yamaguchi.

“Huh?”, Tsukishima stared at him with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, mouth left open in shock. Hinata felt the blood rushing to his cheeks. 

“I-I mean, when you’re with Yamaguchi, you two seem to get along great and you understand each other so easily, so you can’t _just_ be a jerk, right? And when I first met you, you looked kind of like the ‘too cool for you’ kind of guy, the delinquent who gets good grades without even studying, y’know? But then the past weeks when playing volleyball together, I found out you’re too awkward to be that kind of guy and maybe even a little childish at times and maybe a little-“ _broken_. Hinata cut off his rambling before he could voice that. 

“Maybe a little what?”, Hinatas heart skipped a beat. Tsukishima was finally looking at him and something about him seemed so amazing in the dim light of the night. The nearby lamp created a halo on his blonde hair, the curls framing his face so beautifully. His eyes met Hinatas directly, the light brown of them swirling and shining, reflecting Hinatas own silhouette, hidden behind the thick frames of his glasses. A wonderful blush covered the soft skin of his cheeks and the tip of his ears. 

Hinata could feel his own blush deepening and fell back against the backrest of the bench. “Nothing”, he mumbled, averting his gaze from the other. Tsukishima scoffed and also leant back against the bench. He took the first bite of his meat bun, chewing on it slowly, before swallowing. Hinata watched his Adams apple bob from the corner of his eyes. Tsukishima took another bite, plump lips engulfing the bun and white teeth becoming visible to dig into it. Hinata quickly averted his gaze, blushing furiously and munching down on his own meat bun. Tsukishima gave him a questioning look, but didn’t mention it. 

“I don’t think I really mind... this”, Tsukishima murmured, staring down at his lap, fiddling with the paper wrapping of his bun. Hinata grinned broadly. 

_“Then, lets go home together from now on for starters!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hinata is probably really good at reading people and knowing when it’s too much or not enough, considering he gets along so easily with everyone, Kenma and Aone my prime examples here. But he also gets along with people who more actively try to shove others away, like Kageyama and Tsukki, so I think he’d be a good match for either, to stabilize them. I just more actively ship Tsukihina than Kagehina.
> 
> Hope you liked it! ヽ(*´∀｀)


	3. Lighting the Candle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hi, whatcha doing?”, the person flinched and looked up at Hinata with a surprised ‘buh?!’ Sound coming from them. His eyes were a beautiful, clear gold, as if Hinata was looking at a cats eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is probably gonna take a while, since I’m on vacation and won’t have much time to write, but please be patient, guys! （╹◡╹）♡

Hinata hadn’t even noticed he ran ahead of everyone until he was lost in the middle of the small town. Confused, he looked around, hoping to recognize something here. But it seemed like he didn’t follow the usual route. Should he wait until they found him here? Or go and find his way back on his own?

Before he could decide what to do, he saw a person sitting on a nearby fence. Their dyed hair hung over their face and hid it from view as they looked at their phone. Hinatas face lit up and he jogged over to the person. He didn’t recognize the sweat suit they were wearing, so they were probably from somewhere else. 

“Hi, whatcha doing?”, the person flinched and looked up at Hinata with a surprised ‘buh?!’ Sound coming from them. His eyes were a beautiful, clear gold, as if Hinata was looking at a cats eyes. 

“Ummm... uh... being lost?”, the boy mumbled, looking back down at his phone. His one hand reached up to stroke back a strand of his bleached hair. “Really? So you’re not from around here?”, Hinata asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. He had guessed so much from the sweat suit he couldn’t recognize, though. 

“No”, the other mumbled, glancing at him for a second before his eyes went back to the screen. Hinata blinked. A second passed in silence between them, only filled with the sounds of the others phone. 

He squatted down next to the bleached blond. “Is that fun?”, he questioned, glancing at the game the other was playing. He looked up again, seeming a little surprised, before turning back to the phone yet again. “Huh? Uh... not really”, he tapped something on the screen, “It’s just a good way to waste time”. Hinata tilted his head. “Oh, really?”, he asked, watching the boy. The other nodded. “Yeah”.

Curious, Hinata looked around, eyes landing on the other boys bag. A lot of stuff was hurriedly shoved inside but one thing stood out to him the most. “You play volleyball?!”, he screeched almost, jumping up in glee. The other made that surprised ‘buh’ noise at him again, cat like eyes widened in surprise at the sudden outburst. Hinata pointed at his bag. 

“Those shoes! They’re volleyball sneakers, right?!”, he almost yelled in excitement. The other nodded shortly. “Oh, uh... yeah”, he muttered, glancing at the pair of shoes in his bag. “I’m on a volleyball team, too! I’m Shouyou Hinata!”, he introduced himself, grinning broadly. The other looked up at him, eyes wide and surprised. Before Hinata started questioning it, his eyes went back to the screen. 

“Kozume...”, he mumbled. Hinata bent down to him, confused look on his face. “Kozume? Is that your first or last name?”, he asked, interested in this stranger. “Kenma Kozume...”, the bleached blonde finished his sentence, tapping away on his phone. “Oh! Kenma, huh? You in High School?”, Hinata kept asking. “Yeah”, Kozume answered. “Me too! I’m a first year. You?”, he chimed, leaning forward a little. “Second year”, Kozume responded, humming a bit. 

Hinata straightened up in shock. He hadn’t expected Kozume to be older than himself. “Whoops!! You’re my senior! I’m sorry, sir!”, he stuttered out. He felt a little ill all of a sudden. Hinata just hoped the other wasn’t too mad at him. 

Kozume looked away, disdain on his face. “It’s okay. Forget about it. I don’t really care for that, um... senior-junior stuff in sports. It’s all stiff and formal”, he muttered, a little annoyed. “Oh, really...?”, Hinata rubbed the back of his head, a little unsure. Kozume didn’t answer and he just took that as a yes. 

“So, um... do you like volleyball?”, he asked a little nervously, trying to keep the conversation going. “ _Nnn_... meh? I’m just kinda playing it. I don’t hate it...”, Kozume hummed, glancing at the other boy, “I just don’t like getting tired and sweaty and stuff”. Hinata leant against the fence, listening intently. “Some friends of mine play on the team though... and I think they’d be kinda upset if I wasn’t there”. Hinata hummed in reply. 

“ _Hunh_... I think you’d have more fun if you learned to like it”, he chimes in, smiling. “ _Enh_. I’m only going to be playing through high school anyway”, Kozume responded, his focus on the game again. Hinata rocked on his heels a little. “What position do you play?”, he asked, wondering a little. He didn’t seem like a middle blocker or wing spiker, but then again, neither did he. “Setter”, Kozume replied, looking over his shoulder to look at Hinata. 

His eyes widened in surprise. “Wow, really? You’re totally different from our setter? He’s always like _’Graaah!’_ and _’Hrrrgh!’_ all the time!”, Hinata yelled, trying to imitate Kageyama. Kozume responded with a small ‘oh’. Hinata threw his arms up in a block. “By the way, I’m a middle blocker!”, he added. A little ‘ah’ came from the other. 

“Yeah, its really weird, isn’t it?”, Hinata tried to grin, but it probably seemed a little sad, “Middle blocker is supposed to be the position played by all the tall guys”. Tsukishima was probably a better suited middle blocker, regarding their height and the fact that the blonde was better at blocking. He didn’t even think about loosing to him, though. It just meant he had to practice more. 

Hinata couldn’t see the way Kozume looked at him, or the fact that his gaze fell on his exposed forearm for just a short second. He only opened his eyes to look at the bleached blonde when he answered. 

“Yeah, it is, I guess…”, he mumbled, “… but it doesn’t seem weird to me”. Hinatas eyes widened in surprise as he stared at Kozume. “I get that kind of thing at tournaments a lot too. People look at me like, ‘Setters are supposed to be the smart guys. Whats he doing there?’. I mean… I’m not a gifted athlete or anything”, he continued, looking back at his game. 

Hinata grinned and got off the fence. “Hunh! So, is your team any good?”, he questioned, trying to get Kozumes attention back. “I dunno. I hear we used to be really good, then we got really bad”, he deadpanned. 

“ _But the team we’ve got now…_ ”, Kozume started, looking at Hinata. His cat like eyes seemed to pierce through him. A breeze brushed past him and tousled his bleached hair, “ _I think its pretty good_ ”. 

A shiver ran down Hinatas back, as the wind brushed his own hair out of his face. Something about Kozume seemed so predatory all of a sudden. He tried to speak, his voice punched out of him. “Um… W-whats the name… of your-“, he managed to stutter out but was interrupted. 

_“Kenma!”_

A tall, black haired guy jogged up to them, wearing the same red sweatpants and holding the same red sweat jacket Kozume was wearing. The bleached blond stood up quickly, grabbing his bag. “Kuro”, he answered the guy, seeming almost relieved. “Um!”, Hinata tried to get back the others attention. “Gotta go”, Kozume just told him and joined the Kuro-guy. 

“See ya later, Shouyou”, Kozume waved goodbye, while his teammate just glanced at him over his shoulder. Hinata waved back dumbly, listening to their little bickering as they wandered off. “Later…?”, he muttered confused, lowering his hand. 

Before he had time to really wonder about it, a sudden realization hit him. “Oh crap! Thats right! I was supposed to be running!”

—

Hinata didn’t notice the change on his right forearm until he got back to the team. The black outline thinned out and was barely visible, now the colors dominated the tattoo. The flame was lit in a burning shade of red, a realistic flow of yellow and orange mixed in. The melting wax was white, the shades a light blue mixed in. 

“Tsukki!”, Hinata called out excited, reaching blindly for the blonde with his left arm while staring at his right. “I told you not to call me that”, Tsukishima grumbled, but still stepping closer and looking at Hinatas forearm after he pointed it out. 

His eyes widened for a millisecond as he watched Hinata trace the small flame so lovingly, before putting on his bland expression again. “So?”, he asked disinterested. 

“So?!”, Hinata responded, offended. “You’re my soulmate, at least act interested!”, he pouted, hitting Tsukishimas shoulder playfully. A little smile flashed over the taller boys face before turning into a smirk. 

“Ah, yes, I’m so sorry. Did you meet someone when you ran off and got lost and we had to come get you?”, he teased, looking down at Hinata. The other frowned and stuck his tongue out at him. “Actually, _yeah_! He plays volleyball too and is a setter! So we might meet him again at a match or something!”, he stated, turning his nose up at Tsukishima, who snorted. “So you’re not denying the getting lost part?”, Hinata twitched in annoyance. 

“Hey Tsukki, remember that time when we were ten and went to the museum with our class to look at an exhibit and you wandered off to look at the dinosaur exhibit instead and when we found you, you were crying because you thought we forgot about you and you’d have to live in the museum forever now?”, Yamaguchi chimed in. Hinata wanted to thank him for such amazing information on Tsukishimas childhood and he already knew he’d use it against the other all the time in future arguments. Tanaka and Nishinoya snorted, trying to hold back their laughter. When Tsukishima frowned, they couldn’t hold back and even Sugawara and Sawamura couldn’t hold back a short chuckle. 

“I actually do remember, _Yamaguchi_ , and as you already said I was _ten_ ”, Tsukishima tried to defend himself. “And it was a temporary exhibit with cool new finds and my parents didn’t have time to go with me so it was my only chance”, he added in a low mumble. Hinata had to hold back his coo, afraid he’d get murdered if he voiced how cute that was. He was really glad he got lost now, if only for this little moment and the fact that he met one of his soulmates that way. 

Tsukishima scowled at him. “That is _not_ cute”, he grumbled, crossing his arms. Hinata looked up in surprise at him. “How-“—“It’s written all over your face”. They stared at each other defiantly. “Well, it _is_ cute!”, Hinata spoke up, eyes not leaving the others. “Its _not_ ”, Tsukishima replied defensively. They both harrumphed, trying to prove their point. 

“Yamaguchi, thats your fault”, Kageyama grumbled exasperated. Tsukishima and Hinata broke out of their starring contest to scowl at the setter. “I know you two have some weird kind of tension going on, but can we get back to practice?”, Kageyama asked, frowning back at them. 

“Excuse you, as if you’d notice anything like that, King. You’re quite dense, when it comes to such things after all, _right_?”, Tsukishima taunted, smirking down at Kageyama. He frowned, sticking out his lower lip in an almost pout. 

Sawamura coughed and got the attention of all four first years. “While I wouldn’t have exactly worded it like that, could we get back to practice now?”, he tried to soothe out the tension, his words not completely a question, but more a command. Tsukishima and Kageyama huffed, but still agreed and the team got back to practice. 

“You really cried even though you were the one who wandered off?”, Tanaka couldn’t keep his mouth shut. 

“I was _ten_!”

—

Hinatas eyes widened in glee as he stared into the mirror. It was the first years turn to use the baths, when Hinata had removed his shirt only to find the color on his chest tattoo had grown. Red spots joined the orange ones in coloring the wings and more continued to grow and appear, but even so the wings were far from filled out. 

He heard a cloth being dropped and turned to see the other three staring at the reflection, too. Hinata was glad to see that Tsukishimas expression wasn’t the same one of horror and fear as when he’d first seen his tattoo. “I can’t believe this, like, what are even the odds of meeting two of your soulmates in one day”, Yamaguchi muttered, almost exasperated. “Seems like a pretty low chance to me, since having two soulmates is already a pretty low chance”, Tsukishima grumbled, watching the growing spots on his soulmates chest. 

“Yours didn’t change”, Kageyama supplied, staring at the blondes tattoo.  
“Well, I didn’t expect it, too, Idiot King”, he bit out, scowling at the black head, “Could you also not just look at my tattoo? Its not exactly at a comfortable to just randomly look at place”. Yamaguchi laughed, taking his own shirt off, the outlines of his own unfilled tattoo becoming visible on his shoulder. 

“So, Hinata, did you meet anyone other than that setter you told us about?”, he asked, turning to look at the other fully. Hinata thought about it. While practicing the team had kept to themselves so they didn’t even walk past anyone other than people they already knew and Tsukishima would have met them too that way and his didn’t change, so other than Kozume…

“Ah! The guy who picked him up after Kenma got lost!”, he exclaimed, “Kenma called him Kuro, even though I think that’s a nickname, and he looked a little older than us, probably a third year”. Tsukishima and Kageyama stopped their bickering and looked at him. “Well, there’s no sense in thinking too much about it, since we don’t know when we’ll see them again right?”, Yamaguchi hummed, turning back around. It ended the conversation topic for now, even though Hinata was still fascinated with the red spots over the duration of their bath. 

—

Hinata turned onto his back, breathing out deeply. He could hear the soft breathing of the other team members around him and Tanaka’s and Nishinoyas snoring. Sugawara was softly mumbling in his sleep. Hinata looked to his side. 

Tsukishima laid in the futon next to him, his back turned to him. The rise and fall of his shoulders was too quick for him to be asleep. “Tsukki?”, Hinata whispered, watching as the others shoulders fell quickly in a deep, silent exhale. “You awake?”, he continued, rolling onto his side. A silent second passed, before Tsukishimas futon rustled as he turned to face him. 

“I told you not to call me that”, he whispered, a little sleepy and a little annoyed. His blond curls were tousled from the pillow and his eyes seemed hazy without the glasses. Or maybe it was because he was tired. His brows were furrowed together in a soft frown, nothing much, just a little crease on his forehead, a portrayal of his faked annoyance. Hinata ignored his complaint. 

“Are you worried that I met one of our soulmates before you did? Or that we are more than three?”, he whispered, reaching out for the other, he caressed the soft crease between his eyebrows with his thumb, evening out the skin with no complaint coming from Tsukishima. The blonde closed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh. Hinatas hand slid over to rest on his cheek. 

“Why would I be worried about that?”, he questioned, careful to stay quiet enough that he wouldn’t wake up anyone. Hinata shrugged, before realizing Tsukishima couldn’t see him with his closed eyes. “I dunno, you seemed weird when I wanted you to look at my other tattoo and you were pretty quiet when we noticed my wing tattoo changing”, he explained, glancing away, before his eyes came to rest on Tsukishima again. The blonde opened his eyes, the honey brown orbs moving, inspecting Hinatas face. 

“Can you even see anything without your glasses?”, he knew their topic was a different one and most likely important to form their further relationship, but the question just popped into his head. “It’s all a little hazy and I can’t make out clear lines, but since it’s close I can mostly see fine”, Tsukishima answered, whispering, his hand coming up to grip Hinatas. The smaller marveled at their size difference and brought their intertwined hands down to the futons, resting on the cushions between them. 

“So?” - “So what?” - “What about my other question?”, Tsukishima sighed, nuzzling into his pillow. “I guess... I’m a little nervous... you’re more social than I am so when we meet our other soulmates... I feel like maybe I’ll be left out? It sounds weird, when I say it out loud…”, he whispered, eyes trained on their hands, shrugging helplessly. 

“That will never happen! They’re our soulmates, we’re made for each other! And even if they reject you, I won’t leave you!”, Hinata tightened his grip on the others hand. Tsukishimas eyes widened, before a blush spread across his face and he hid himself deeper in his pillow. 

Someone groaned and they flinched, squeezing each other’s hands. Hinata watched how Yamaguchis futon shifted behind Tsukishima. They waited for what felt like ages but was probably only a few seconds, until Yamaguchi started snoring and was obviously asleep. A snort fell from Tsukishimas lips and turned into soft giggles. Hinata joined in, his heart beating too fast, the adrenaline in him to high from almost being caught to really appreciate Tsukishimas laugh. 

“You’re always so loud, Shrimpy!”, Tsukishima whispered between giggles, free hand wiping at his glazed over eyes. Hinatas whole body shook with the suppressed chuckles filling him. “I couldn’t help it! You had me worried, you jerk!”, he squeezed out, more careful to keep his voice low this time. Tsukishima couldn’t retaliate, so he just squeezed the others hand tightly and hid his giggles behind his hand. 

Hinata smiled, his own chuckles dying out and a yawn pushing its way past his lips. Tsukishima immediately had to yawn too. Both went silent after, settling into their futons to sleep, neither letting go off the others hand. 

Tsukishima was the first to fall asleep. Hinata watched him, inspected how the short curls framed his face, how his long eyelashes brushed his cheeks, how his lips formed a little ‘o’ to let his breath pass through, how the moonlight that passed through the curtains fell onto his soft features so perfectly. But eventually, even he let his eyes drift closed and fell into a deep slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tsukki and Shouyou seem way too close here, considering that they just managed to talk it out in the last chapter (´･ω･`) I’ll just blame it on them being sleepy ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Meeting the Cats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ah, um... hey...”, the bleached blonde stuttered out. He tugged at his collar, pulling it down just enough that you could see a bit of skin beneath his collarbone. Just enough that Hinata could see the tip of a little flame that looked awfully familiar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, might seem a bit rushed and the writing style might seem different from the last chapters (ﾟ∀ﾟ)

_“Huuuh?!”_

Hinata knew Sawamura was glaring at him for pointing at someone, but he couldn’t care right now. Because Kozume stood in front of him, looking in every direction to avoid meeting his gaze. Is that what he meant with ‘see you later’? Did he know they’d meet here? How did he know?

“Ah, um... hey...”, the bleached blonde stuttered out. He tugged at his collar, pulling it down just enough that you could see a bit of skin beneath his collarbone. Just enough that Hinata could see the tip of a little flame that looked awfully familiar. His face lit up and he grinned broadly. Proudly, he lifted the sleeve of his jacket to reveal the colored candle on his forearm. A teeny tiny smile appeared on Kozumes face, before the captains of both teams (That Kuro-guy was _Nekomas Captain_!!) called for them and it disappeared again as they went back to their respective teams. 

As Karasuno walked to the changing rooms Sugawara slapped the back of his head lightly, in a friendly manner. “Man, Hinata, don’t just point at people like that! Even if he’s your soulmate!”, he reprimanded, a wide grin on his face anyways. Tanaka and Nishinoya laughed and fell into step next to the two. 

“Hey, hey, did you meet him somewhere before?”, the smaller boy asked, slapping Hinatas shoulder. Tanaka threw his arm around his shoulders and leaned down to their height. 

“You two seemed to know each other”, Tanka laughed, grinning. He pulled the shorter boy a little closer with his arm. “Uh, yeah, when I got lost I met him and we talked a bit”, Hinata stammered, still a little overwhelmed. Kozume was his soulmate. But not Tsukishimas. That would mean Nekomas captain was most likely the soulmate of both of them. He’d have to check if Tsukishimas tattoo changed too. Would he get the same red spots or would it look different? So far they looked identical until Hinata met Kozume and Kuroo. 

“Don’t get wrapped up in it, you need to concentrate on the match. Nekoma is a powerhouse”, Kageyamas voice snapped Hinata back to reality. Right, the match. He should focus on that. “You don’t need to tell me that!”, he protested and jabbed his elbow into the setters side. If he noticed Tsukishima and Yamaguchi watching them with condescending smiles, he pretended not to see. 

“Oi, quiet down, this is a public gym!”, Sawamura scolded them just as Kageyama made to grab for Hinatas head. The two first years straightened up and bowed their heads slightly. An apology was muttered, but the two still side eyed each other. Tanaka and Nishinoya laughed heartily and slapped them on their backs. Sawamura sighed and opened up the door to their changing rooms. Nekoma was using different ones. 

The team went in and everyone focused on changing. Except Hinata. He stood beside Tsukishima on purpose, watching him from the corner of his eyes, waiting for the blonde to take his shirt of and inevitably reveal the pair of wings on his back. 

“You’re a creep”, Tsukishia scoffed quietly, glaring at the boy next to him. Hinata grinned sheepishly, taking of his own shirt and holding out the tournament uniform in front of him. The white ten stared back at him. He’d be wearing it for the first time. “I’m just curious! What if your tattoo didn’t change? That’d mean our soulmate is someone else and we wouldn’t know anything!”, he whisper yelled, glancing at their other teammates, to check if anyone but Yamaguchi, who was on Tsukishimas other side, was listening. But they all minded their own business. 

“If Nekomas captain is really our soulmate I’m suing the universe”, Tsukishimas voice and Yamaguchis snort brought Hinata back to the conversation, “A shorty who can’t stand still and a delinquent looking guy who lives several miles away. Great, who’s next? A guy thats even taller than me?” Hinata pouted and just bumped his shoulder into the others side in retaliation. He didn’t have to be as excited as Hinata, but Tsukishima could at least let him be interested, right? 

The blonde sighed and pulled his shirt over his head, turning slightly to talk with Yamaguchi. Hinatas face lit up. Tsukishima _did_ let him be curious! Quickly and hopefully indiscreetly, he took a step back to have a better look at his back.

Surely enough the wings were still there. The thick, detailed, back lines. The watercolor style, orange spots. And red spots. They decorated the soulmate tattoo filling out spaces that were left bare before. Intermingled with some of the orange spots. But still didn’t fill it out. 

Hinata swallowed. Thats fine. He knew it wouldn’t fill out. His hadn’t filled out either. They’d meet the rest in time. For now, they’d just strengthen the bond between them. Maybe Kuroo already met the rest of their group. Keeping in contact with someone from Tokyo would be hard, but it would probably help that Kuroo and Kozume went to the same school. 

Hinata slowly came back to reality, when Tsukishima pulled his uniform shirt on. The white number eleven stared at him. Snapping out of it, Hinata pulled on his own shirt. He pulled down his shorts and fumbled in his bag for the uniform ones. He ignored Tsukishimas questioning gaze for now. It wasn’t because he wanted to know if his tattoo changed, he knew. It was because Hinata was probably acting weird. 

_Just focus on the match. Nekoma is a powerhouse_ , he reminded himself and took a deep breath. 

—

After five full sets most people would be exhausted, Hinata guessed as he stood next to Kageyama, both still full of energy. They watched the rest of their team resting, drinking and panting heavily. Just overall recovering from the hard match. Nekoma was sure amazing. That reminded Hinata of something important. His head snapped over to the other side of the net. 

Big, golden and almost eerie eyes met his as he stared at Kozume. He ducked under the net, noticing the rest of the two teams started to mingle too. Sugawara and the other teams Libero seemed to get along well. And Tanaka looked like he’d get along with their ace. 

“Kenma!”, Hinata grabbed the others arm, “Let’s exchange emails! To stay in touch when you go back to Tokyo and I stay in Miyagi!” Kozume seemed thrown of at the sudden approach, his cat like eyes wide. A second passed where they stared at each other. Then Kozume nodded. 

“Just let me get my phone”, he gestured towards his arm that Hinata was still gripping. A blush rose on his cheeks and he released the other suddenly, keeping his hands level with his head. He almost missed Kozumes amused smile, but the small curve of the others lips made his blush deepen. 

It took him a moment to register that Inuoka came up to him to talk. Surprisingly easily, Hinata slipped into the energy from the match, excited that there were people who could keep up with him. He sprung up and down, still tons of energy left in him. 

“That jump is so cool!” - “Your Block is amazing!”, back and forth they went and Hinata barely noticed the disdain on Tsukishimas face. Before he could focus on the blond a voice interrupted him. 

“Um, Shouyou”, Hinata stopped his jumping and looked at Kozume. The bleached blonde held his phone out, screen already showing the form where you type in your contact info. A startled ‘ah!’ left him, before he took Kozumes phone. With his fingers a little shaking, he typed in his info, saved and returned the phone to Kozume. “Okay, I’ll text you, so you have my mail, too. Please text me back later, so we know we’ve got it right”, Kozume muttered, already typing a short message and sending it away. Hinata nodded enthusiastically. “Of course!”

The coaches called to stop the idle talk and stretch out and clean up. Hinata looked around, hoping to get Kuroos attention, so he could talk to him too. But throughout the stretches and the clean up, he never managed to talk to the captain, someone always interfering. Not on purpose obviously, but it still bothered Hinata at some point. 

In the end, he left the gym without ever having talked to the captain. At least he got Kozumes mail. Remembering that, he searched for his phone and sure enough, a mail from someone unknown was displayed on his lock screen. Quickly, Hinata unlocked it and opened the app, tipping on Kozumes mail. He ignored Kageyamas confused look and read the message. 

_‘Its me, Kenma’_

Hinata didn’t acknowledge the slight drop of his heart at the simple text. He shouldn’t have expected more from Kozume, he guessed. Almost a little too giddy he typed a response with maybe a little too many exclamation marks and saved the mail address as Kozumes. 

_‘We’ve got it right!!!!’_

He put his phone away and spent the rest of the bus drive in a daze. Thinking about his soulmate bond with Kozume. With Kuroo. And with Tsukishima. How would he cope with knowing at least one of their soulmates was two years older and lived three hours away? How would _Hinata himself_ cope with it? Soulmates had a pull toward each other, a need to be close. Now he had two soulmates three hours away. 

Hinata shook his head. He had to think positive. It would work out fine. Soulmates _always_ worked out fine. 

—

_‘I don’t know what to do with my other soulmate anymore. It seems like we can’t grow closer and are stuck in place’_

_‘Why don’t you try going on a date?’_

_“What?”_

So, now Hinata stood in front of a mall, wearing an outfit his mom picked out for him and rocked back and forth on his heels. He’d arrived way too early out of overzealousy. It’s been ten minutes since he got here and still another ten until the agreed time. Hinata checked his phone again, no new texts or mails. He lent against the wall behind him with a sigh and looked up into the clear sky. 

It was a miracle in itself that Tsukishima agreed to this. In the last week it seemed he pulled away from Hinata more and more, even though they had just grown so close. So he had consulted Kozume, with whom he had started texting nonstop since they exchanged mails. And he had suggested going on a date. 

“ _Tch_. You’re here already?”, Tsukishimas voice pulled him back to reality. A grin spread across Hinatas and he watched the few scattered clouds for just a second longer. Then he pushed himself of the wall and directed his gaze at the blond before him. The joyful greeting died in his throat as he got a proper look at Tsukishima. 

The tall blonde always stood out in crowds. He wasn’t small and his hair made him look like a foreigner. The curls framed his smooth face. Hinata couldn’t remember ever having seen him in casual clothes before. Yeah, a shirt and shorts at training camp, but nothing like this. He... looked good. He looked comfortable, casual, like he just picked the next best thing in his closet and didn’t spend hours in front of it, contemplating, like Hinata did. Like he probably actually did, the way Hinata knew him. 

“Hey, Tsukki!”, the words didn’t sound as cheerful as Hinata would have liked them, but he was still busy trying to tear his eyes away from the way the black skinny jeans hugged Tsukishimas legs. The blonde scoffing and crossing his arms did the trick and Hinata lifted his head to look at his face. It was a bit of a bother having to look up that much at times. Tsukishima wasn’t looking at him, but watched a couple of doves that stalked around the mall in search of food instead. The tips of his ears were red and a little scowl decorated his face. Almost mournfully, Hinata remembered that night at the training camp and wished the blonde would smile more. 

“Is there anything you wanna do? You hungry?”, the smaller picked up the conversation, rocking on his heels again. “Theres a really yummy cake shop here! Their cheese cakes are awesome!”, Tsukishima looked back at him, nodding slightly. “I guess, lets go”, he muttered. Hinata nodded cheerfully, making a grab for the others hand, only for it to be pulled away. He looked up at Tsukishima with a confused look. 

“We’re in _public_ , Dumbass!”, he hissed, glancing at the mass of people around them. No one paid them any attention. Hinata shrugged. “‘Kay then, just follow me”, he proposed, starting to walk towards the entrance of the building. “Don’t tell me what to do”, he heard Tsukishima grumble, but when he checked over his shoulder, the other was following him anyway. Hinata laughed and stopped, falling into step next to him. 

—

Hinata smiled gleefully. Tsukishima looked up at him with the barest hint of a frown on his face. They sat in one of the booths of the cake shop, both with a plate and drink in front of them. “What is it?”, he asked, almost annoyed, but more like he was trying to be but couldn’t. Humming, Hinata swung his legs a little, accidentally touching the others foot. Damn, his legs were really long and needed so much space. Not that it really bothered Hinata, but it must be a pain in everyday life for Tsukishima. “Hmm, nothing! Do you like cake, Tsukki?”, he sing songed, leaning his head on his hands. 

Tsukishima had been trying to eat slowly, but Hinata could see his forced movements and there was a bit of cream on the corner of his lips. Would Tsukishima let him wipe it off? The blonde grumbled, putting down his fork. He looked out the window, probably knowing he’d been found out. “I guess”, he muttered. His tongue swiped away the bit of cream he’d noticed when he saw his reflection in the glass. There goes Hinatas plan to be cool and charming. 

“Hey, Hinata”, Tsukishimas serious tone made him lift his head of his palms. What was now? Did he do something wrong? “What are you trying to get out of this soulmate thing with me? Is this platonic? Or… are you trying to make this into a… romantic relationship?”, this question caught him off guard. To be honest, Hinata didn’t really think about this before, consciously. He knew he liked girls and boys, so its not like he wasn’t attracted to Tsukishima. But more than that… he just wanted to be close to him. Wanted to know every last bit of him, every little information, no matter how insignificant or twisted. _Every last bit._

A frustrated groan left Hinata and he dropped his head on the table, accidentally hitting the very edge of his plate. “I really don’t know, I’ve never thought ‘bout this before. I just know that I wanna be close to you”, he muttered, shifting his head a little to look at Tsukishima. He looked startled, staring at the red head with wide eyes behind his glasses. “I’ll think it over, but you gotta give me an answer to that question too”. The blonde jumped in his seat like he hadn’t expected that, then turned back to the window. “Ugh, fine”, he grumbled, resting his chin on his hand. Hinata grinned at the little bit of red coloring the others cheeks, before sitting back up and eating his cake. 

That evening, Hinata laid awake in his bed, hair still wet from the shower and clutching one of his pillows to his chest. His gaze stayed glued to the ceiling the whole time he thought it over. 

He almost certainly knew he wanted a romantic relationship with Kozume, but he couldn’t quite sort his feelings for Tsukishima out. What if they met the rest of their soulmates and were in a romantic relationship but the rest of their soulmates wanted a platonic relationship? Or if their soulmates want a romantic relationship but Tsukishima and Hinata were platonic? A frustrated groan left him and he rolled onto his side, grip on the pillow tightening. He’d have to think it over. 

—

Kiyoko brought a blonde girl to practice. As they all gathered up at the gym door to get introduced to the girl, she hid behind the ravenette beauty. Kiyoko announced her name to be Yachi Hitoka and that she would be here to try out as manager. The boys bowed in greeting and Yachi shrieked, clutching onto Kiyokos shoulder. “Please don’t crowd her, she’s a little nervous”, she tried to get them to back off and everyone took a step back. Hinata was sure he heard Tanaka and Noya mutter that the blonde was cute. 

“Hey, Yamaguchi, your tattoo”, Tsukishimas voice muttered and everyones attention drew over to the boy who lifted the sleeve of his t-shirt to reveal that the star-shaped flower on his shoulder was gaining color. Yachi and Yamaguchi squeaked at the same time. The small girl fumbled with the shirt of her uniform and pulled it up a little to reveal the same tattoo on her hip bone. 

_“EEEHH?!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More KenHina, yay! Just read the latest chapter of Haikyuu (313) and I'm still screaming.
> 
> Next chapter I'll focus on Yachi, so it might turn into a side chapter instead, I'll decide as I write. 
> 
> Sorry for the wait, hope you enjoyed it!


	5. Growing Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yachis hand came up to her neck and she turned to be able to see it. Instead of only tracing the thin black lines of a sea rose, like she expected, her fingers came in contact with a delicate pink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whispers* l e s b i a n s

Yachi sighed deeply, dropping her school bag on the floor on her room. She shut the door with her foot and unclipped the bow of her uniform. The buttons of her blouse were opened next until she let it slide down her shoulders and hung it up in her closet. Before she could make a grab for a shirt she noticed her image in the mirror. 

The yellow, star shaped flower on her hipbone stared back at her. A little whine left Yachi as she traced the lines with her fingers. Yamaguchi hadn’t talked to her this evening and she was kind of glad over it. She didn’t know how to handle this yet. 

Her hand came up to her neck and she turned to be able to see it. Instead of only tracing the thin black lines of a sea rose, like she expected, her fingers came in contact with a delicate pink. Her eyes widened. She hadn’t noticed the second tattoo gaining color before. Yachi covered her face with her hands and fell down into a squat. A low groan left her. 

Was someone else from the club her other soulmate? Someone other than Yamaguchi and they were most likely in the club too. _Another quiet groan escaped her_. How would she deal with this? How could she explain it to them? Would they hate her for it? Maybe she should just never return to the club and hope Yamaguchi forgets about it. Aah, but that wouldn’t be fair on him, after all, she’s most likely his only soulmate and that would mean he’d be without a soulmate. And what about Shimizu? She was so happy Yachi agreed to coming, how could she do this her? _Another groan, this time a little louder_. Maybe if she just stayed for club activities and avoided the other members outside of activities? Would that even work? Yamaguchi was in college prep classes too right? Maybe they’d be sorted into the same class next year and then she wouldn’t be able to avoid him anymore. Oh god, what about her other soulmate? Maybe they noticed their tattoo coloring and put one and one together and found out it was her. _A louder groan_. Maybe she could just change schools for the next year and start at a different high school. But then in her new high school she’d stand out too much. What would the her new classmates think of her? Would they think she got expelled and had to switch schools? 

With a frustrated groan Yachi fell and landed on her back. Her lips wobbled a little as she stared at her ceiling, frustration and anxiety colliding inside of her, fighting and taking over her thoughts. Yachi closed her eyes. _Just what do I do?_

Opening her eyes again, Yachi sat up and reached for a shirt, pulling it over her head. She’d try out whether or not she wants to be a manager and then see what to do about her soulmates. Yeah, she- she could do this... somehow. 

—

Morning practice was tough. Yachi couldn’t remember waking up that early for school before. She yawned. Her thoughts barely let her sleep this night and kept her up for far too long. Arriving at the school gate she spotted two other members of the club. Yamaguchi and... Tsukishima was it? He looked scary to Yachi, but that might just be his height. 

Panic overtook her. What if Yamaguchi had enough time to process this change and wanted to talk now? Would he try to force an answer out of her? What if they didn’t get along at all? _What if... what if... what if-_! Someone waved their hand in her face. 

“Hey, uh... Yachi-san? Are you okay?”, Yamaguchi was talking to her. His voice was quiet and soft and made her realize just how tired she was. Her eyes dropped and another yawn forced its way past her lips. Yachi quickly covered her mouth with her hand. 

“Uh, yeah, just a little sleepy. I’m not used to waking up this early”, she rubbed at her eyes, straightening up. Her other hand tugged a little on her collar, pulling it higher. She knew it was irrational to fear the other spotting the second tattoo, since the uniforms collar was high enough to easily cover it, but she couldn’t help it. The skin on her hip itched.

“Umm… If you’re worried about that soulmate thing, theres no pressure or anything to confront it right now. We still have all of high school to think about it, so don’t worry about anything, yeah?”, Yachis head snapped up. Yamaguchi wasn’t looking at her, rubbing his shoulder. She hadn’t noticed the freckles on his cheeks that consciously before. The light blush really made them pop out. “ _Uh_ , I’m just processing this myself, so… you can take your time, too”, he added, mumbling. His gaze turned to Yachi and a sheepish smile decorated his handsome face. The blonde stood there dazed, before she nodded quickly. 

“Uh, yeah! You too!”, she squeezed out, nodding again. Yamaguchi grinned, nodding. “See you at practice then!”, he said goodbye just like that and caught up with Tsukishima who had been waiting for him. Yachi heard them bicker as they made their way to the changing rooms. 

_This... turned out better than she would have ever expected..._

—

_“Townsperson B can fight too!”_

Yachi had never really expected herself to have such bravery. It’s been minutes and she’s still sitting on the floor of her room with Hinata trying to process it. The boy was just sitting with her, grinning. She barely noticed his phone buzzing with a message and him taking it out of his pocket to text someone. 

“Are you okay?”, Hinata asked after another while, tilting his head to the side. Yachi sat up straight, a little startled. She slapped her own cheeks to fully snap out of it. The boys soulmate tattoo struck her eye. 

“Um, hey Hinata-kun... about your... tattoo...”, Hinata blinked and Yachi flinched a little at the simple motion. “Uh, do you- do you mind if I ask... who it is?”, he tilted his head to the other side, eyes wide and gazing at her intensely. Thinking she said something offensive, she jumped to apologize. “Ah, sorry! It’s just- you seem close with Kageyama-kun, but he has a different tattoo and you also seem close with Tsukishima-kun and I’ve never seen his tattoo, so- but you seem to get along with everyone, so that might not really be a criteria-“, Hinata stopped her rambling by putting his hands on her shoulders. 

“It’s okay! I don’t mind!”, he answered, grinning, “The candle tattoo is from someone on Nekoma, their Setter! He’s super cool and funny and really smart! He’s really _amazing_!” He stopped, releasing Yachis shoulders. A little blush coated his cheeks as he averted his gaze for a second. Hinata looked almost embarrassed. “But you weren’t wrong with Tsukki being my soulmate. I have two tattoos”. 

Yachis eyes widened. Two tattoos. Hinata had two tattoos. She almost fell over forward in excitement. Grabbing his hands, Yachi couldn’t quite control the rush of emotions coming out. 

“You have two tattoos? And your soulmates are fine with it? Is it really fine to have two tattoos?”, Hinata seemed surprised at onslaught of questions, his brain trying to keep up with it. Yachis feet rocked a little, anxiously waiting for a reply. A strand of her hair fell into her face, but she paid it no mind. 

“Uh, yeah, ‘course it’s okay... it’s rare but there are people with two tattoos and three or maybe more people who share one tattoo”, he started, stumbling over his words, still confused. Something seemed to click in his mind and his eyes lit up. He squeezed her hands back. “Wait, does that mean you also have two tattoos?”, Hinata questioned, voice more clear and happy this time around. 

Yachi looked away and slipped her hands from the others grasp. She sat back on her heels, fiddling with the folds of her skirt and straightening them again. “Uh, yeah... it’s- it’s on my neck and has color too, so it’s most likely someone from the club-“, she mumbled, one hand coming up to touch the sea rose. Hinata shuffled forward, eyes still gleaming in excitement. 

“Can I see it? I know the tattoos of almost everyone in the club, so maybe I know who it is!”, he asked, excitement flowing through his whole body. Yachi nodded hesitatingly and removed her hand from her neck. She turned and tugged at the collar of her shirt to reveal the tattoo. A silent minute passed. The blonde began to get itchy. Did he know the tattoo? Or not?

“Its beautiful. This is my first time seeing that tattoo, though”, she could hear him deflate. When she looked over her shoulder at him, Hinata sat back, leaning on his hands and looking up at the ceiling. He looked like he was trying to think who it could belong to. “Uhm… Thank you…?”, Yachi mumbled, turning back around. Hinata just hummed, closing his eyes in concentration. She watched him, gaze always returning to the lit candle on his forearm. 

“Ah!”, the boy sat up suddenly and startled her. A quiet shriek left her, before she could stop it. Hinata grabbed her shoulders. “The only club member whose tattoo I’ve never seen is Kiyoko-sans!”, he exclaimed, eyes bright and open. Yachis eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their socket, with how much she involuntarily widened them. 

“Wha- wha- _WHAT_?”, she screamed, pushing Hinata back slightly. She crossed her arms in an X in front of her chest. “No- _No way_! There is _no way_! Kiyoko-san can’t be my soulmate! There is _no way_! I mean, she is so nice and cool and beautiful- and I- I’m just… I’m just me after all. There is _no way_ someone like Kiyoko-san could have a soulmate like me! I mean, even just Yamaguchi seems a bit much for someone like me and then Kiyoko-san? _No way_!”, she protested, her voice still an octave higher than usual, but not quite as loud as before. 

Hinata rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t see a problem there… I mean, I kind of get it since, when I’m next to smart people like Tsukki and Kenma I kind of think ‘ _Wow, these amazing people are my soulmates’_ , but just because they are amazing, doesn’t mean _you_ can’t be amazing”, he shrugged, smiling at her. 

“But… but…”, she weakly protested. The red head leant forward. “‘ _Townsperson B can fight too’_ , right?”, he grinned and it felt contagious. Yachis hand came up to play with a loose stand of hair. A small, wobbly smile crossed her features and she managed a weak nod. 

“Yeah, I guess. Then I’d better check”. 

—

_“Uh, um-… Kiyoko-san, can I please see your tattoo?”_

Shimizu turned her head to look at her and Yachi squeaked. “O-only if it’s okay, you don’t have to, of course-“, the older girl cut her off by putting her hand on her shoulder. “Sure, it’s no problem, but... maybe after practice? It’s on my rib cage and I don’t want to pull my shirt up with the boys around”.

The blonde nodded understandingly. Tanaka and Nishinoya seemed nice, but when it came to Shimizu they could be a little... and the rest of Karasuno too, only Tsukishima and Kageyama seemed to not get what everyone is going on about when they see the ravenette. It seemed weird to Yachi, the third year was a literal goddess after all. A literal goddess who maybe was... _her soulmate._

Practice was almost over, so Yachi wouldn’t have to wait for all too long, but it was still exhausting. The thoughts, good and bad, flowing through her head, the beating of her heart that felt like it was trying to break through her chest. She felt almost nauseous. Shimizu was just right next to her the whole time, looking the calmest the blonde had ever seen her. Her black hair fell down her shoulders, like actual silk. Her dark eyes seemed to hold the stars, even if it was just the reflection of the gym ceiling lights. Her slim fingers. Her long lashes. Her soft lips. That little mole. Yachi could just look at her for hours and think about how beautiful every little pore was. But listening to her voice on end seemed nice too, see how excited she would get for certain things or the shy little mumble she could have. Yeah, Yachi had it bad. 

To distract herself until practice ended, she turned her gaze over to the court. Her eyes flicked over the different club members until they stopped at one person. Yamaguchi was in a crouch, waiting for Azumanes serve. His hair was almost long enough to fall into his face. If he grew it just a bit longer he’d probably have to wear a ponytail. Oh no, that was a forbidden thought. Yachi could just imagine it, the way his beautiful eyes and the adorable freckles would stand out even more, without his hair in the way. The sound of a ball being hit resounded and the boy tensed. She vaguely registered Sugawara yelling ‘mine!’ but was busy noticing how Yamaguchis thighs tensed in anticipation and then relaxed again. She wondered how long the boy had been playing. Hinata just started properly in High school and his thighs weren’t that built, so Yamaguchi had most likely been playing for longer. Not that she paid that much attention to the club members thighs normally. With a blush, she averted her gaze, taking care not to look at Shimizu, who was giggling. What a wonderful sound. 

Finally, Ukai and Takeda called it a day and the students were let out. When the girls parted from the boys to go to their separate changing rooms, Yachi caught Hinatas gaze and he sent her a thumbs up. She waved a little and turned back around. 

In the changing rooms, Shimizu almost immediately took off her shirt. Flustered, Yachi went with her first instinct and covered her eyes. The other girls giggle made her move one finger to see just a bit. The ravenette smiled, shoulders pulled a little higher, most likely from having them behind her back, not that she could see that. A little red covered the bridge of her nose, but was mostly hidden by her glasses. _Cute._

“You wanted to see it, right?”, she mumbled, gaze flicking to the side for just a second before going back to the blonde. Yachi gulped, nodding. Slowly, _slowly_ , she removed her hands from her face. Her gaze wandered down Shimizus body, from her face, to quickly swiping over her chest, covered by a pretty, creme colored bra, to finally stop at her rib cage. 

_Pink._

_A pink sea rose met her eyes._

“It colored on the day we met and I guess there was a tiny bit of me that hoped you were my soulmate, but it turned out that your Yamaguchi-kuns, so I guess it must be another first year I talked to that day”, Shimizus mumble made her look up with wide eyes. The red on her nose spread out and covered her cheeks and even reached the tips of her ears now. In a sudden moment of bravery, Yachi pulled her shirt over her head and turned around to display her back. She brushed her hair to the side. 

“You- you _are_! I have two tattoos! I know its a little weird, but-”, soft lips on her neck stopped her in the middle of her sentence. She felt her cheeks heat up immensely and whipped around to look at Shimizu, who stood in front of her, only a mere centimeter between them. Her breath fanned over Yachis face and made it feel even hotter. 

“ _I’m glad_ ”, the older girl whispered, her voice quiet and only meant for her. Soft hands came up to cup Yachis cheeks and she bumped their foreheads together. “Its not weird at all”, Shimizu moved back a bit again and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. Yachi felt like she’d faint the moment the others hands would let her go. 

The warm contact was destroyed abruptly, as the ravenette stepped back and pulled her uniform on quickly. “Get dressed, we have to catch Yamaguchi-kun”, it was almost like a command, but her voice was too soft for that. Yachi could only nod dumbly and follow her lead. 

The second the last button on Yachis uniform was in place, Shimizu grabbed her hand and pulled the two out of the changing room. The blonde barely managed to grab their bags on the way out. They jogged to the gate, the younger stumbling on her feet. The bags clapped against her calf and knee, but she only felt the warm touch of Shimizus hand. 

“Yamaguchi-kun! Wait for a second please!”, Yachi had never heard the other girls voice that loud. She looked up to find Yamaguchi and Tsukishima at the school gate. Both came to a halt, but Shimizu didn’t let go of her hand. The boys gazes were drawn to the point of contact. Yamaguchi gulped. 

“I’ll go home with Hinata today then”, Tsukishimas almost monotone voice piped up. The three waved him goodbye as he joined Hinata and Kageyama. Shimizu turned to look at the other boy, who was averting his gaze from them. 

“Do you have some time for us? We have something to talk about with you”, Yachi couldn’t help but think she should be leading the conversation, but was kind of glad the other girl lifted that burden off her shoulders. Yamaguchi swallowed heavily and nodded. The blonde felt bad for him. Was he expecting something bad?

— 

They sat down in a small cafe not far from school. They waited until they had ordered and gotten their drinks, then Yachi felt like she should finally say something. 

“I have two soulmate tattoos”, she started, both Shimizu and Yamaguchi were staring at her intently. The formers gaze was reassuring, but the latters… he wasn’t as surprised as she’d expected him to be, he looked almost… relieved? “The- the star shaped flower I share with you on my hip and… and a sea rose thats located on my neck. That one bonds me with Kiyoko-san… I was planning on telling you about the second tattoo once I found out who the other person was, so… here we are, I guess”, she tried to keep her voice even and loud enough to understand, but there were still some stutters and a little waver here and there. 

Yamaguchi let out a relieved sigh. “So its just that, _thank god_!”, he muttered, gaining himself the confused gazes of the two girls who sat in front of him. He sat up straight, fumbling with his fingers. “Uh, well, when you two came up to me and were holding hands and were so… close, I just thought-“, he looked like he had to gather his thoughts or maybe get the courage to say it. “I thought you replaced me with Shimizu-san… or something like that. But since you’re also soulmates, its a completely different thing!”, he assured them, putting his hands up in front of himself. 

“I- I would never do that!”, Yachi blurted out, standing up and putting her hands down on the desk. Immediately after, an embarrassed flush covered her face and she sat back down, gaze sweeping over the few others that sat in the cafe. No one gave them any attention. A small relieved breath escaped her. 

“I didn’t really believe that either, but you know”, he shrugged, hands laying on the table, “I just get thoughts like that sometimes, even if I don’t believe them, they exist in my head”. Yachi nodded, she understood that. She experienced that. 

“So- you two are fine with this? With me having two tattoos, I mean?”, the blonde mumbled, sinking deeper into her seat. A little blush decorated her cheeks as she glanced at the both of them. They were far more than she deserved. Both nodded. 

“Except maybe…”, Shimizu started, shoulders rising up a bit and a delicate flush working its way across her features. The two first years turned their attention to her. “I’d like to… try a romantic relationship with you, Hitoka-chan… If you are both okay with it”, her eyes swiped over to Yamaguchi at the last part, before returning to Yachi. The boy nodded. 

“Of course, thats not my business, but… If you’re even interested in me that way… I would like… _that_ , too”, his voice became quieter and quieter until it was only a mumble toward the end. Yachi felt her whole face heat up. 

They both wanted a romantic relationship with her. They both were interested in her. Looking at them individually again, she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. 

_Well, who was she to say no to that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yachis hella bi (*´꒳`*)
> 
> Sorry for the lazy skip in the middle, but I thought since the canon already covers the process of Yachi gaining confidence to become the manager I don’t need to do that. 
> 
> Next time we’ll meet the rest of the third gym crew! Please look forward to it ヽ(´▽｀)/
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!


	6. T o k y o

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m so excited! Hopefully we can talk to Kuroo-senpai. I mean, we got a week, that should be plenty of time! Maybe we’ll meet another one of our soulmates! Or the last one, depending on how many soulmates we have”, Hinata rambled on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did someone say angst? Because i think you’re gonna get some angst this chapter

Tsukishima rolled his eyes as he listened to Hinata groan at the other end of the line. It was the night before the Tokyo training camp and the red head had to take supplementary classes. Which meant he couldn’t join them until later. And he thought he just had to pester Tsukishima late in the night by whining about it. 

“I was looking forward to seeing Kenma againnnn”, he dragged out his words. The blonde could just picture him, stretched out over some piece of furniture, that adorable- _annoying_ pout covering his face. 

“Be glad Tanaka-sans sister is driving you two or you couldn’t come to camp at all”, a high wail was the response and Tsukishima winced, holding his phone a safe distance away. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he waited for the outburst to pass. The moment the sound stopped he put his phone to his ear again. 

“You’re so mean Tsukki! I can’t believe I’m stuck with you”, Hinata whines playfully, teasing. The blonde scoffed, imagining the smirk that was surely decorating his soulmates face now. Hinata had been on his mind a lot lately and it was extremely annoying how the red head wormed his way into Tsukishimas life. He realized he should probably quip back, before the other thought he fell asleep or something. 

“And I can’t believe I’m stuck with a child like you”, not his best comeback, he knew, but it would do for Hinata. A response of ‘ _I’m older than you!_ ’ was heard, but he ignored it, moving from his chair to his bed and hugging one of his dinosaur plushies to his chest. Putting his phone on speaker, he laid it on the mattress next to him. Hinata interpreted his silence as his cue to keep talking. 

“I’m so excited! Hopefully we can talk to Kuroo-senpai. I mean, we got a week, that should be plenty of time! Maybe we’ll meet another one of our soulmates! Or the last one, depending on how many soulmates we have”, he rambled on, Tsukishima just silently listening. Hinatas voice did weird things to him, his heart felt calmer and he was relaxed when he could just listen to the red head talk like this. With a deep breath he buried his face in the Dino plush. 

“Oh! If you can’t sleep at camp, we can hold hands again like last time~”, Hinata sing songed at him through the phone. Tsukishimas head shot up. He had a strong urge to strangle his soulmate. “Why you! I can sleep fine on my own, thank you very much!”, he growled, picking the phone up and holding it up to his face. He could hear Hinata laugh and frowned. When had he gotten so mischievous. 

“Hey, but for real, Tsukki? When camp is over, wanna go on a date and talk again? I think I have my answer, but I need a little more time to think it over”, the red heads tone was serious. A blush crept up onto Tsukishimas cheeks. He was glad they weren’t face-timing. He hid his face in his arms nonetheless. 

“I’m... not quite sure yet, but after camp should be enough time”, he mumbled, hoping to whatever deity there is that the other heard him so he wouldn’t have to repeat himself. An enthusiastic ‘ _okay!_ ’ came from the red head before they exchanged a _‘good night’_ and hung up. 

As he laid down to sleep, Tsukishima couldn’t help the anxiety rushing through him. He didn’t know anything about Kuroo, except that he was a crazy good blocker and that meant he was extremely smart, right? What would he be like when he found out Tsukishima and Hinata were his soulmates? He couldn’t help but fear the worst outcomes. 

_‘And even if they reject you, I won’t leave you!’_ Hinatas voice resounded in his head, calming him enough that he could fall asleep. Half-awake, his last thought was ‘ _maybe it will turn out fine if Hinata stays by my side’._

—

It was not fine, Tsukishima decided the moment Kuroo so much as came into his vision. And then he heard him laugh at Tanaka and Nishinoya. It was a disgusting laugh, like a hyena or something. And his hair was disgusting, too. And his deep voice. And his face was definitely disgusting. And the way he tried to be cool, even though he just laughed like _that_. Kuroo was _definitely_ disgusting. 

This was a terrible idea and he wanted to go home. He wanted to cling to Hinata or hide behind Yamaguchi, but those thoughts were pushed back the moment they appeared. He wasn’t a shy child anymore on his first field trip. If he glared enough the others would let him be. And anyway, Yamaguchi was busy fending of Nekoma Ace from his soulmate and his soulmates soulmate. Even though Shimizu looked like she had everything under control. 

They were herded into the locker room and as last arriving team had it to themselves. Yamaguchi stood close to Tsukishima, that too-innocent-to-truly-be-innocent smile on his face as he looked up at his childhood friend. “Soo, Hinata said Kuroo-senpai is your other soulmate, right?”, he said just loud enough that only the blonde could hear him. Tsukishimas eye twitched as he pulled his practice shirt over his head. “Well, that’s good right? I mean, he looks like he could be your type”, Yamaguchis teasing continued. Tsukishimas eyes snapped over to him, glaring. His gaze swept over the other club members, but they were all immersed in their own topics. 

“Shut _up_ , Yamaguchi”, he hissed, glare directed at the freckled brunette again. Yamaguchi only snickered, pulling his own practice shirt over his head. “What? He might be taller than you, but that could just be his hair making him seem taller. Oh, and his hair is really unruly, huh? You like that about Hinatas hair, right?”, he just continued, bending to put his gym shoes on. 

“ _Shut up_ ”, he repeated, bumping his shoulder into Yamaguchi, making him almost loose his balance. That made Tsukishima pretty satisfied and he continued getting changed, ignoring the incredulous look the other was giving him. 

When everyone finished the team was led to the main gym by Kuroo and the vice-captain. They were briefly introduced to the other three teams, Fukuroudani, Shinzen and Ubugawa. Both Shinzen and Ubugawa were definitely powerhouses but at least their team members didn’t seem too troublesome. Fukuroudani, though... their captain seemed downright obnoxious. 

Also an interesting new thing was... Nekomas new middle blocker. He stood out like a sore thumb, even among a camp of giants. He could possibly be one of the tallest players at camp, even taller than Tsukishima or Kuroo. His almost white hair and the green eyes were another contributing factor. And the fact that he was loud. And terrible at volleyball from what Tsukishima could see. He felt bad for the team for having to deal with someone like that just because he was tall. 

While stretching, he observed the other teams. Fukuroudani had an interesting team dynamic, as in at first they seemed to center around their ace and captain, but then they seemed to function well on their own. Nekomas defense was as strong as ever, even with their new Middle Blocker as weak point. Their libero and other players made up for it. 

Just as Tsukishimas eyes landed on Kuroo yelling at the new first year, the door to the gym was ripped open. Startled, everyones attention snapped over to the two boys who stood in the entrance. Hinata and Kageyama arrived, looking very much like they just threw up but we’re still full of energy. _Annoying._

“Kenma!”, Hinata exclaimed, running at the Setter and engulfing him in a hug. Kozume didn’t reject the affection, even putting an arm around the others waist and petting his hair. Tsukishima scoffed, pointedly ignoring Yamaguchis knowing grin. He did _not_ want to be greeted like that. He was just annoyed the shrimp was fraternizing with the enemy. _Right._

His gaze hushed over the scene, landing on Kuroo who stood at their side. The older middle blocker looked up, their eyes locking. Tsukishima quickly put his usual scowl on his face, turning away with a decided harshness. There’s no way he was going to just tell Kuroo that they were most likely soulmates. And he hoped Hinata wouldn’t either. Even if expecting the other to keep away from his own soulmates just because he himself wasn’t ready was really, really, _really_ selfish. Shit, he was an asshole. He suppressed the groan bubbling up in his throat and concentrated on stretching. There was a long day of matches coming up and he didn’t want to have his own self loathing bothering him throughout on top of that. 

—

“ _HOLY SHIT!! TSUKKI LOOK!!!_ ”, the blonde winced at the all out scream. His face contorted into a deep frown and he took a deep breath before he turned to look at Hinata. 

Sugawaras and Sawamuras reprimand of _’Language!_ ’ was promptly ignored as his eyes focused in on the pair of Wings on Hinatas chest. They were filled out. Yellow spots joined the mix of red and orange. The red spots also looked like they grew in number. The blend of colors seemed natural now, easier. It was breathtaking to look at. 

“Well shit”, Yamaguchi piqued in, “You met all your soulmates in this camp, but there’s no way to know how many there are”. Sawamura shot him a glare at the cursing. In a moment of realizing that Tsukishima, _really_ , absolutely did _not_ want their other teammates to hear their conversation about this, he grabbed Hinata and his shirt and pulled them out of the classroom they used as sleeping quarters during their stay at camp. 

Once outside, he made the red head put on the shirt again. Hinata complained quietly while putting it on, saying how it was his smelly practice shirt from today, but still complied. His tattoo was covered by the cloth again and Tsukishima let out a deep, relieved breath. 

“So, what now?”, Hinata asked, taking Tsukishimas hand and pulling him along the school corridors. “We could go to Nekomas room and ask Kuroo? Or wait until tomorrow?”, he offered, stopping with the blond after only a few steps. Turning to look at his soulmate, Hinata kept quiet for a bit, watching him. Tsukishima knew he probably looked like a mess. He was really thankful the other was willing to put up with him. 

“Do you even want to meet Kuroo? Or our other soulmates?”, the smaller spoke up again after a minute of silence. His voice seemed to resonate in the quiet halls. Tsukishima swallowed heavily. Hinata was right, he wasn’t ready to meet their other soulmates. He didn’t even have a picture of how many there could be. He just knew Hinata, Kuroo and himself were in this bond. But the others? They could be four, six or maybe even ten? Tsukishima wasn’t ready for this. 

“I don’t”, he mumbled, keeping his gaze glued to their shoes. Hinatas feet were naked, like his own. The floor was cold. The smaller pair of feet stepped closer. “I won’t stop you from talking to them, though... just don’t mention me to them”, _yet_ , he wanted to add, but it wouldn’t pass his lips. Hinata gripped his other hand, squeezing them. 

_“I’m fine like this”_

Tsukishima brows furrowed. He glanced up to see Hinata grinning at him. That grin alone made him feel so small. It made him feel so bad for holding the other back. He wanted to voice it, tell him how stupid that was, that he could just go on without him. He wouldn’t hold it against him. He could see what their other soulmates were like better like that and then catch up. _It was fine with him_. So why would Hinata say he was okay with the way things were? Wasn’t he excited to talk to Kuroo?

“We’ll have another training camp with the Tokyo teams this summer, so for now we should focus on Volleyball and practice for our matches in the Inter High. We’re aiming for nationals after all!”, Hinata was so scarily able to read him. He just kept grinning at the blonde and squeezed his hands again. “And then, when we meet Nekoma at camp again, we can tell him anytime!”, the red head just continued, stepping even closer into Tsukishimas privacy. He couldn’t really find it in himself to mind. 

The whisper of a smile washed over Tsukishimas features as he squeezed the others hands back. “Then you should start training, right now the only thing you’re good for on the court is that annoying freak quick of yours”, he teases, letting go of one of Hinatas hands and going back to their sleeping quarters. The red head followed, protesting loudly, that he didn’t suck at volleyball _that much_ and that Kozume said he was _still better_ than Haiba. 

—

The training camp was almost over when Tsukishima met Yachi in the middle of a hallway in the middle of the night. He looked the corridors up and down, before his gaze went back to the small girl crouching on the floor. She barely noticed him so he just shrugged and went into the toilet, the reason he was out this late. 

When he came back out, the girl was still there. He observed her for a moment. Was she sleeping? No, her breathing was too quick. Now that he noticed it, her breathing was really fast. Was she panicking? Yachi seemed like an anxious person from what he saw himself and heard from Yamaguchi. 

He squatted down in front of her. “Yachi-san?”, Tsukishima whispered, not touching her yet. The blonde girls head shot up. “Oh, uh, Tsukishima-kun!”, she replied too fast, out of breath. Her face was a little red, probably from lack of breath. Her eyes were a little red and brimmed with tears. The blonde frowned. She was definitely panicking. “Is it fine if I touch you?”, he asked, holding his hand out to the girl. Yachi nodded, taking his hand tentatively. Tsukishima laid his other hand on her shoulder, rubbing small circles with his thumb into the skin above her collarbone. When he was sure the touch wasn’t uncomfortable for her, he continued. 

“Can you copy my breathing?”, the taller blonde asked, already exaggerating the rise and fall of his shoulders and chest as he took deep breaths and let them out again. Yachi nodded hesitantly. She copied his breathing in, holding it and letting it out. They kept it up until the smaller blonde could breathe on her own again. Tsukishima shifted into a more comfortable position, both sitting on the floor now. 

“How do you know how to do this?”, Yachi finally asked after mulling the words over in her head. Her voice still sounded a little hoarse, but she’d be fine in the morning. Tsukishima looked at his fingers, intertwining and separating them. 

“Yamaguchi and I got them during middle school so we figured out ways to best comfort each other”, he mumbled, shrugging. He didn’t know if Yamaguchi wanted the girl to know that, but it wasn’t like it was something embarrassing he had to hide. “Do you want to talk about it?”, he offered instead of keeping the other topic up. 

Yachi leant back against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. “Yamaguchi and you did, huh... you’re really close”, she mumbled. Tsukishima blinked.

“Is that what bothers you? Because there’s nothing romantic going on between me and Yamaguchi”, he supplied, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his palms. Yachi flushed a little, this time out of embarrassment. 

“Uh, no! Of course not, I know you’re just friends! I panicked because...”, she trailed off, scratching her cheek. Tsukishima prompted her to keep going with the raise of an eyebrow. Yachis head fell and her face was hidden by the short blonde strands. 

“I got lost and it’s a little scary walking around a school at night and there’s so many people here that I don’t know. I know it seems silly”, she let out a nervous laugh at the end and looked up at the other blonde. Tsukishima shook his head. 

“There’s nothing silly about that. Schools seem scary at night and strangers are scary too”, he mumbled, shrugging and looking up and down the hallway. “I don’t quite know the way to the managers room, but I know the way to Karasunos room, we can find our way from there”, he offered, standing up. He held his hand out for the small girl and she took it almost a little too eagerly. He helped her up, but when she stood Yachi still didn’t let go off his hand. 

“Umm, is it fine if I hold onto your hand?”, she muttered, looking up at him through her lashes. Tsukishima just nodded in reply and led her down the first corridor. “Uh, Tsukishima-kun?”, he hummed in acknowledgement. “You’re Hinatas soulmate, right?”, she asked, looking away from him. 

“Uh-huh, we share a multi-person soulmate tattoo, our other soulmates are at this camp”, he explained and the girl nodded in understanding. They took a turn and arrived at Karasunos classroom. He stopped to think. He had been at the girls room once, but couldn’t quite remember where it was. Yachi tugged him along, mumbling a ‘I think it was this way’. 

“Then... how do you feel about Hinata having two tattoos?”, the smaller blonde asked, stopping again to look at him. Tsukishima was startled. He should have expected this conversation to go this way. Since Yachi had two tattoos, she’d like to know what her soulmates could feel like with that. He hummed a little, thinking how to best answer this question. 

“I... don’t feel exactly jealous or anything. And our situation is a little different, since we have a multi-person tattoo and there’s more people involved than just Hinata, Kozume-san and me, but... ultimately I don’t really mind. Hinata juggles his time between School, club, Kozume-san and me quite well, and even if he doesn’t some days I don’t really care. It’s not like we’re dating”, he answered, hoping he didn’t put some weird expectations or insecurities on the already anxious girl. 

“You’re not dating?”, Yachi chose to question, genuinely surprised. Tsukishima rose his eyebrows. Hinata and he were close, but he didn’t think it looked like they were dating. “Um, well, when you talk about each other or are interacting there’s always this certain fondness and I thought...-“, she trailed of and changed her sentence, “You don’t _like_ Hinata?” 

Tsukishima felt his cheeks heat up. “That’s- I- uh...”, he stumbled over his words and covered his face with his free hand. Yachi squeezed the other, looking at him expectantly. “I guess I like him... a little”, he mumbled, not meeting the smaller girls gaze. They were interrupted by a new voice. 

“ _Hitoka-chan_!”, Shimizu called, jogging towards them. Yachi immediately released Tsukishimas hand and ran into the older girls arms. The taller blonde let out a relieved sigh. 

“Where were you?”, Shimizu asked, concern lacing her tone heavily. She cupped the smaller girls cheeks, staring at her, most likely noticing that her eyes were still red from crying and the tear tracks. “Uh, I got lost on my way back from the toilet and Tsukishima-kun found me”, Yachi explained quickly, grasping at her soulmates hands. Tsukishima felt like he was intruding on something. 

“Ah, thank you, Tsukishima-kun!”, Shimizu, turned to him. But she was still holding onto Yachi so gently that it made him feel awkward. “Uh, yeah, I’m going back to bed, so good night”, he muttered, already taking a few steps backward. He felt bad for Yamaguchi to have to keep up with _that_ all the time. “Ah, thanks Tsukishima! Good night!”, Yachi piqued up, smiling at him. Tsukishima nodded, not mentioning the drop of the honorific and turned to walk towards the Karasunos room. He heard their steps and soft whispers as the two managers also made their way back to bed. 

—

Whatever Tsukishima expected, when Hinata texted him at half past nine in the evening, right on the first day after coming back from their training camp in Tokyo, asking if he can come over, it was not opening the door to find the smaller boy bruised up and sniffling. 

“What the hell happened?”, he tried to keep his voice even as he let the other in. Hinata just sniffled again, rubbing at his bruised nose, a tissue sticking out of one of his nostrils. He didn’t make eye contact, he didn’t say anything, just stared at the ground and tried to keep his tears at bay. It broke Tsukishimas heart to see him like that. 

A noise from the kitchen made him realize that he should not let his mother see Hinata like this. His hand grabbed the others, the touch gentle and led him up the stairs quickly. Tsukishima opened the door to his room, beckoning the red head inside. 

“Just sit on the bed or the chair and wait. I’ll go get the first aid kit from the bathroom”, he whispered, eyes sweeping down the stairs to where his mom and dad were still in the kitchen. Hinata just sniffled and nodded. With an affirmative nod, Tsukishima closed the door and hurried into the bathroom down the hall. 

Once he got the kit and opened the door to his room again, Hinata still stood still in the middle of it. Tears streamed down his face and he was biting his lips to the point of almost bruising from what he could see. Tsukishima hadn’t seen him cry that much since their loss to Seijoh. He quickly closed the door behind him and put the first aid kit on his desk. 

“Hinata...”, he muttered, voice quiet. With long steps he closed the distance between them and hugged his soulmate. Hinata buried his face in Tsukishimas chest and clutched at his back. A quiet whine escaped him, but the blonde quickly shushed him. “Hinata...” 

The red head gasped for air, trying to speak. “I- I just- _I just wanted_ -!”, his voice was muffled by the taller boys shirt and he couldn’t quite muster up the consciousness to form proper words. Tsukishimas grip on him tightened and Hinata gave up, just trying to focus on the comforting feeling of his soulmates arms around him. A sigh escaped him and he just let the tears flow down his face. 

Seeing that Hinata was calmer now, the blonde shuffled, moving them towards the bed until they fell down into the soft mattress. A weak chuckle escaped the red head and Tsukishima smiled. They shifted until they laid comfortably curled up next to each other. The tallers long fingers threaded through the orange curls, playing with them, wrapping them around his fingers or massaging his scalp. 

Eventually Hinatas breathing evened out and he let out a soft sigh. Tsukishima copied him and brought him closer. A moment passed where they just listened to each other inhale and exhale. Just felt each other’s heartbeat against their chests. 

“I got into a fight with Kageyama”, Hinata confessed, voice hoarse. Tsukishima nodded, softly nuzzling into the others curls. A hum vibrated in his throat and prompted him to continue. 

“ _I just wanted him to practice spiking with me._ I want to learn how to spike better. I can only spike properly when it’s Kageyama who tosses to me. You all can spike with whatever Setter, so I wanted to learn properly too. But Kageyama claimed I _didn’t need to learn_ , as long as I just spike his tosses. But our freak quick isn’t invincible and we won’t be able to use it forever. We lost to Seijoh like that. If we don’t _improve_ we won’t ever make it to nationals, and that _includes me_. But he won’t let me and that made me so angry, and- and we ended up fighting- actually fighting, and we scared Yacchan and Tanaka- Tanaka-senpai had to come and separate us and-“

Hinata was gasping for air at the end of his explanation, the tears streaming down his face. Tsukishima brought his one arm up from around the others middle and wiped them away, mindful of the bruises. His heart clenched at the sight. He didn’t want the red head to be like this, he should smile and illuminate the world around him again. 

“Hey, you’re not in the wrong here. While fist fighting might be a bit excessive, it’s not wrong for you to want to get better and function on the court without the King. You did _nothing_ wrong, so please don’t cry about it”, Tsukishima tried to reassure the other boy, pressing their foreheads together. Hinata stared at him with wide eyes, before grinning brightly. He nodded, bumping their foreheads together a little painfully and they recoiled, putting some distance between them. 

“Uh, hey, about that first aid kit... I think my nose started bleeding again because of that...”, the red head mumbled, holding his nose. Tsukishima almost snorted, if he weren’t angry at the other for getting hurt. He got up quickly, striding over to his desk to get the kit and went back to the bed. Hinata sat up, legs dangling down the side. The blonde knelt down in front of the red head, between his spread legs. Looking up at Hinata felt weird. 

“Come on, show me your nose”, he demanded, getting out tissues to stop the bleeding. The smaller boy removed his hand, pulling out the old tissue. Blood immediately came gushing out and he quickly threw his head back without instruction. Tsukishima gave him a fresh tissue and he held it up to his nose. A groan left him. 

“The king must have punched you in the face pretty good for it to look like that”, the blonde commented almost nonchalantly. But Hinata felt like it was a reprimand for getting into a fight. It probably was. He just groaned, glaring at Tsukishima who seemed pretty comfy, sitting cross legged on the floor between Hinatas thighs. Blood rushed to his cheeks, before he could shake the thought off. 

While Hinata stopped the bleeding, Tsukishima tended to his other bruises. The red head winced as he applied alcohol to the scrape on his knee and was quickly shushed by the other. He was so careful and loving throughout the whole procedure, Hinata wondered if maybe Kageyama killed him and he went to heaven. 

“There, that should be it. You need to get home. Your parents are probably worried sick about you”, Tsukishima patted his unwounded knee, but made no move to get up or remove his hand. Generally, the red head thought the mood was pretty good for the fact he just had a big fight and got beat up, like an hour ago. 

“I sent them a text that I was stopping by at a friends. I don’t really think I can go home, bruised up like this, though”, he muttered, throwing his head back, even if his nose bleed stopped a while back. He felt Tsukishima shrug, by he way his shoulders brushed against his inner thighs. He suppressed the shudder at the intimidate contact. When he glanced at the blonde, the other didn’t seem to think anything of it. 

“Just make up an excuse. _‘I was hit in the face by a ball when practicing receives’_ or ‘ _I fell from my bike on the way back_ ’. Something like that”, he muttered, not looking at the red head. Hinata hummed. Comfortable silence passed them, Tsukishima observing every single bruise. 

“You’re a dumbass”, he finally muttered, dropping his forehead on one of Hinatas thighs. The blush deepened. He swallowed. Would now be a good time to talk about _that_? The mood was pretty good, even if he just got beat up like an hour ago. A moment of silence passed through them before Hinata took a deep breath, steeling his nerves. 

“I like you, Tsukki. I really, really, _really_ like you and I want our soulmate bond to be romantic. I’ve been thinking this over for quite a while, but in the end, I can only imagine a romantic bond for us- only if you want that too, of course-“, he was cut off by movement on his thigh. Tsukishima had turned his face away, but he could see a little of red on the tip of his ear. The blonde nodded again. 

“I like you too...”, he muttered.   
“Really?”, Hinata pressed, grinning.   
“Really”, Tsukishima comfirmed.   
“Really _Really_?”, the red head pushed, leaning closer down to the other. Tsukishimas head shot up and almost bumped into Hinatas. 

“If I say so-“, he stopped mid-sentence, the two realizing their closeness. Tsukishimas face was almost completely red. It looked good on him. Hinatas own face also felt quite warm. They stared at each other like that, taking in every little detail about each other. 

“ _Can I kiss you?_ ”

It was a random thought that crossed Hinatas brain every now and then, kissing Tsukishima. He didn’t think the possibility to voice it would come so soon, though. His cheeks heated up and he swore he saw Tsukishimas already deep flush, darken even more. With his eyes wide, the other nodded just a tiny bit, barely moving his head. 

Not waiting any longer after the confirmation, Hinatas hands settled on the blondes cheeks. They were warm. He leant in quickly. Their noses would have crashed together, had Tsukishima not tilted his head to the side in the last second. Their lips slid together and it felt so right, even if they were both inexperienced and it was a little bumpy. Hinata pressed in more, almost squishing the others cheeks with how tense his hands were. A protesting grumble formed in Tsukishima throat and his hands came up to grip his wrists. The red head forced himself to relax, not wanting to make this uncomfortable for his soulmate. 

They only separated when they realized that air was a thing humans needed to survive. Both took in a huge gasp the second they separated, but their hands stayed in place. 

“I really like you, Kei”, Hinata whispered, lovingly gazing down at his soulmate. His thumb brushed over Tsukishimas cheek. The skin was so warm and soft beneath his fingers. Tsukishima bristled, avoiding eye contact. 

“Shut it”, he mumbled, his grip on Hinatas wrists tightening nonetheless. The red head grinned, pushing their noses together. He heard Tsukishima grumble, but he didn’t protest. 

“I like you too, Idiot…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternatively titled ‘Tsukki comforts everyone’.  
> The power of the lesbians is too strong for Tsukki.  
> 3rd gym who? Don’t know them, this suddenly turned into a mainly TsukiHina story. I really didn’t plan for the rest to come in so late and only so few. But they’re gonna come next chapter, I promise. \\(//∇//)\  
> I fucked up the way the canon story goes, because I thought between the two training camps was the first Seijoh match, which I wanted to include, but nevermind now. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it! (*´꒳`*)


	7. Number 3, 4 and 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Ah, Kuroo-san, can I ask something?”_ , Hinata piqued up. Tsukishima tensed a bit, but forced himself to relax. The boy in question hummed and looked over at the red head. He swallowed the sip he just took from his bottle. The red head lifted his shirt to reveal the painted wings on his chest. _“Do you have this tattoo?"_

After that moment, Tsukishima felt like he and Hinata barely saw each other over summer break. Well, obviously, busy as the red head was with training. He didn’t feel lonely or anything. He was glad for Hinata, that he somewhat made up with Kageyama and that he was improving his volleyball skills, purely because the other seemed happy doing that. Tsukishima just felt a little... left behind. Hinata always had put a lot of energy into the sport, but it continued to confuse him. Why put effort into something so fleeting, something that wouldn’t help him in the long run? The others on the team kept getting better, so in the end it wouldn’t take much longer for him to get benched, Tsukishima guessed. His height alone wouldn’t help him much longer. Not that he cared. 

They were back on their way to Tokyo. Hinata sat next to him, leaning on his shoulder. He’d slept through most of the ride. They wouldn’t have to sit in that stuffy bus much longer, maybe another hour. Tsukishimas legs were already cramping and he was almost glad for the movement soon to come. Hinata was vibrating in his seat, texting Kozume. 

“Hey, how much does Kozume-senpai actually know?”, it was an after thought, something that was usually only in the back of his mind. But since he didn’t have anything better to do, having forgotten to charge his phone, he might as well ask. Hinata hummed in acknowledgement. He finished typing his message and send it away, before putting it into his pocket. 

“I told him I had another, multi person tattoo and that the one person I already know is on the team, I didn’t tell him that it’s you, but he might’ve guessed already. And he knows at least two other soulmates are at camp”, Hinata listed of, looking out the window, “Also, he doesn’t like honorifics, so if you don’t wanna call him Kenma, could you just call him Kozume?” Tsukishima scoffed a little, but didn’t reply. The red head continued to claim that he’d surely get along with Kozume, because they were so alike. But with almost every new thing he learnt about the bottle blonde and from their sparse interactions during the last camp, Tsukishima doubted that believe more and more. 

“Hey, what do you wanna do about Kuroo-san?”, Hinata asked, leaning a little more into the blonde, digging his shoulder into his arm. Tsukishima tried to escape the prodding feeling, but only ended up with his side getting stabbed by the corners of the armrest. The comfier option was to lean back into the other first year in a petty fight for space. Hinata gave up with a short laugh, pushing himself off and leaning back in his own seat. His eyes never left Tsukishima and the smile never disappeared for even a second. 

“I don’t know, what do you want to do about him? I already said I don’t mind you telling him, as long as you leave me out of it”, Tsukishima shrugged in response. He kind of missed the physical contact now. With a slight shift he bumped his elbow subtly into the red heads. With a grin Hinata bumped back, before taking a hold of his hand, intertwining their fingers. 

“Well, yeah, you did. But that feels weird. Leaving you out of it, I mean. You’re as much a part of this as everyone else”, Hinata protested, grumbling. He squeezed Tsukishimas hand to make his point clear. He glared at him, but the blonde didn’t look as he rested his head on his palm. An exasperated sigh left him and he watched the scenery pass by for a second longer. Then, he side glanced the red head. Another short sigh and he closed his eyes. 

“It’s not like you have to leave me out completely. Just say that you met another one of your soulmates, but they’re not at camp or something like that”, Tsukishima lifted his head off his hand a bit to wave it around, gesturing. When he finished his sentence he leant on it again. Hinata leant forward to look at him. He hummed a little, tilting his head. The blonde side glanced him and raised his eyebrows at the other in question. 

“You’re really used to making up excuses, huh?”, Hinata muttered, slumping back in his seat with a sigh. After a second of apparent consideration, he squeezed Tsukishimas hand. A pout covered his face. The taller boy chuckled, squeezing back. 

“It’s not that hard to come up with a simple excuse”, he teased, his tone light. The red head wanted to complain, turning his head to face his soulmate, but found a finger prodding his cheek. He was forced to stop pouting and opted to glaring at Tsukishima instead. A slight smile graced the blondes face and Hinata almost forgot that he was annoyed. 

“Whatever”, he grumbled, turning away and crossing his arms in front of his chest. He had to let go of Tsukishimas hand in the process, but tried to cover up how much that bothered him. The blonde laughed at him again. Hinata muttered under his breath, trying not to give into the others plays. Tsukishima kept being in a rather good mood nonetheless, which would normally elate the red head, but right now it was annoying him. The taller boy leant into him, resting his head on the others. He nuzzled his nose into the locks for a moment, placing a quick kiss into them. Hinata couldn’t keep the pouting up and gave in, leaning his head on Tsukishimas shoulder. 

“Will you come with me when I talk to him?”, he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Tsukishima seemed to decide that craning his neck like that was uncomfortable and lifted his head of off Hinatas. 

“No way. Kuroo-san isn’t dumb, he’d figure it out if I tag along, when you seek him out”, the blonde deadpanned. Hinata was ready to pout again and give up, but the other continued his sentence. “But, if I happen to be there when you tell him I won’t go”, the red head lit up, humming happily. He leant into the other more, uncrossing his arms and grabbing his soulmates hand again. 

The scenery outside the window changed and they’d be there soon. At the training camp, touches like these wouldn’t be exchanged so easily between them. So in the short time they had left they’d get their full of them. 

—

Tsukishima huffed out another breath. It was too hot for this. Why of all penalties did they have to run up a hill. Outside. In the burning sun. He was used to physical labor, but this was way too exhausting. It felt like the sweat drops on his forehead turned into a waterfall. There was no way he’d join the others for extra practice, even if Hinata and Yamaguchi were begging him. 

The sound of a volleyball landing on grass broke him out of his annoyed chain of thoughts. He side glanced the ball that laid on the grass, a way too familiar sight and it pissed him off. A figure in the corner of his eyes moved to get it, so Tsukishima hurried on. He didn’t feel like talking with anyone. 

“Heey, Glasses-kun!”, apparently he still had too. The voice was awfully close to a certain captains and if he was right, ignoring him would end up troublesome. Taking a deep breath, he looked over his shoulder. His hunch was right, Kuroo stood just outside the gym, volleyball in hand. He grinned when he saw Tsukishima turn. 

“You’re a middle blocker, right? Come jump some blocks for us!”, Kuroo twirled the ball in his hand a bit. He raised an inquiring eyebrow. Tsukishima forced a polite smile and got ready to refuse, but another head popped out of the gym. The weird hairstyle and loud voice were impossible to not remember. It was Bokuto, Fukuroudanis Captain. Followed closely by another pretty boy, who the blonde scarcely remembered to be Fukuroudanis Setter. 

“Oooh! Is tall guy from Karasuno gonna join? So cool! We can play two on two!”, the other captain yelled out immediately. He joined Kuroo, hanging onto his shoulder. “Since Lev is off practicing with Yaku we could use another person!”, the two captains gave off the impression of being very close last camp, but now even more so. Bokuto was just clinging to the others arm, rocking on his heels. Kuroo didn’t seem to mind at all and just kept inspecting Tsukishima like he was some new plaything. If the blonde learnt anything by watching the ravenette it was that he was provocative. The Setter, whose name he couldn’t remember, just stood in the door to the gym, observing the scene. He was tugging on his fingers. 

“Ah, no, I’m sorry, I won’t be joining your training-“, he was cut off promptly by Kuroo putting a hand on his hip and opening his mouth. 

“What? Scared you won’t be able block ‘im?”, the polite smile disappeared in a matter of seconds, replaced by a pissed off frown. “This guy here is one of Japan’s top five Spikers, ya know?”, Kuroo continued, that smirk on his face that just told he knew he got to Tsukishima. It was annoying and frustrating to know he got reeled in that easily. Bokuto seemed to preen at the praise. The giant, self satisfied grin on his face was proof of that. 

“Too bad he couldn’t make it into top three”, the pretty Setter spoke up and his voice flowed like honey. Tsukishima couldn’t believe these three people from powerhouse schools were bickering like children. How could someone go from a provocative asshole to an arguing child so quickly? Maybe he could use that to escape. He could forget the _‘I bet you can’t’_ if it was like that. Carefully, the blonde took a step back, but the movement only served to turn their attention back on him. 

“What? Are you chickening out?”, fuck his exhaustion, he was going to prove a goddamn point to that annoying, bed haired bastard tonight. He changed his step backward into one forward, and another and another until he stood in front of the trio. Tsukishima straightened his back out, raising his chin the tiniest bit. It was satisfying to find out he had a centimeter on Kuroo, but the other did not seem to agree as he grumbled up at him. Bokuto, too, growled the smallest bit. The Setter moving back into the gym broke the three out of their petty fight and they followed quickly. 

—

Blocking Bokuto was a harder task than he imagined. Sure, he had had practice matches against the captain before and knew he wasn’t only stupid. But after a whole day of volleyball he imagined it would be a bit easier. And getting pointers and help from Kuroo felt just a bit humiliating after he gave in on the basis of _‘I’ll teach you to underestimate me’_ and bragging about his height. 

_“You know, if you keep talking like that shrimpy is gonna surpass you”_. 

Ah, that. Tsukishima couldn’t deny that stung. It wasn’t a rare thought. It crossed his mind even more now since the last training camp. He felt the rift between himself and the team grow since they started imitating powerhouses. _What use was it?_ They would likely loose to Seijoh again or at the very least to Shiratorizawa. Their chances of going to nationals was slim and even _if_ they made it? The chances of _actually winning_ on a _national_ stage? _Basically zero._

“Well, that cant be helped, can it? The difference in natural talent is just too great”, he wasn’t lying. Kuroo was right. Tsukishima put on his best fake smile and rubbed at his neck. It wasn’t a lie, _so why did it hurt_? He watched as Kuroos teasing smirk contorted into an expression someone would have when they knew they fucked up. His mouth dropped open and he seemed to look for words. He looked almost helpless. Why would he have an expression like that? Tsukishima was from a rival team, so what did his feelings matter to him? 

“If you’ll excuse me”, the blonde kept smiling as he bowed his head at the shocked upperclassmen and excited the gym. _It was frustrating_. Why were they so shaken, when they figured out they’d stepped on a Landmine? He could hear Akaashi, the setters name he learned from Bokutos screaming, reprimand Kuroo. _Why did they even bother_? He was just a first year from a rival team that didn’t even live close to them. Kuroo didn’t even know they were soulmates. 

_Why did it hurt so much?_ Tsukishima asked himself that over and over as he laid in his futon in the empty classroom. The rest of the team was still training. Somehow that made it worse. He promised himself to not get hurt over a _club_ like Akiteru did, so why did it hurt? He wanted Hinata to reassure him, but also not. He didn’t want anyone to see him, but still craved the voice of someone. Craved someone telling him it was fine, but also despised simply thrown out reassurances like that. 

He reached for his headphones and put on his favorite music. It was probably a little too loud and stung in his ears just a bit, but this way he couldn’t hear his own thoughts, so it was fine. Tsukishima fell asleep like that, a deep feeling of dissatisfaction festering in his chest. 

— 

_“Motivation? What more do you need than pride?”_

_“It's a matter of whether_ 'that moment' _exists for you or not... If you experience that moment, it'll really get you hooked on volleyball!”_

Those words stung his pride a bit, Tsukishima couldn’t deny. But even so, they lit his flame and he wouldn’t back down to the challenge of blocking Bokuto. Even if his fingers stung from colliding with the fierce spikes of the captain. 

“Hey, uh, sorry about... last time...”, they took a five minute water break, when Kuroo stopped next to him. Wide eyed, Tsukishima gaze snapped over to the older boy in surprise. He didn’t expect an apology and especially not like that. In such a... such an almost small voice. Reluctant. Shy. Like he was almost afraid to bring it up again. Kuroo shuffled on his feet, rubbing his neck and trying to not let Tsukishimas sharp gaze get to him. 

“Don’t worry about it...”, the blonde finally muttered, looking away. He brought his bottle to his mouth and drank, a few droplets sliding down his chin. He wiped them before they could get any further. Kuroo also hastily reached for his own bottle, drinking what seemed like a few mouthful. 

“Kuroo-san, can I ask a question? You and Bokuto-san seem close. Are you...”, he trailed off, gesturing towards his own body, hoping to get the idea of soulmates across. If Kuroo knew about Hinata being his soulmate, then Tsukishima would know by now. And he knew there was at least one other person at camp who shared their tattoo, so by the way they acted, maybe... 

“Uh, soulmates? Ah-“, Kuroos shy reply was cut off by Haiba barging into the gym. They startled at the loud voice and the captain even cursed under his breath. Tsukishima would deny until the end of his life thinking that the thought that he was kinda cute like that crossed his mind. 

“Captain! Please let me join your training!”, Haiba shouted, stopping in front of the two middle blockers. Kuroos almost shy side was replaced with the ever teasing, reliable captain and Tsukishima did _not_ mourn the loss of that expression. The ravenette crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

“Is Yakkun done with your practice already?”, he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. Haiba shuffled on his feet, arms behind his back, looking anywhere but at his captain. The eyebrow rose higher. A noise made Tsukishima look to the open door, where he spotted Hinata in hiding. 

“Well, I mean, you’re already teaching Tsukki, so teaching me too shouldn’t be that hard, right?”, Haiba smiled down at them and it snapped the blondes attention back to him. The height difference pissed him off. But even more-

“ _Tsukki_? Don’t call me that!”, he hissed. A glimmer shone in Kuroos eyes and expression turned from stern to teasing. Haiba almost flinched back at the harsh gaze from the blonde, but still smiled gleefully. 

“Well, your freckled friend and Shouyou call you that, right? So I thought-“, Tsukishimas gaze snapped back to the red head in hiding. Bokuto, who hadn’t been paying attention to the scene until he heard Tsukishima get loud, noticed and followed the look. He spotted Hinata and ran over to the door. 

“Oooh! It’s shrimpy from Karasuno! Wat’cha doing here?”, he exclaimed, jogging to the door. The red head squeaked in surprise and fell over. Bokuto stopped for a moment, tilting his head in confusion. Then he perked back up and leant forward to look at the younger better. “Why don’t you join us too? We can play 3-on-3 then!”, the captain offered, excited. He looked back at Akaashi to get a confirmation, but the setter just shrugged. Bokutos gaze went over to Kuroo. The latter sighed exasperated and his shoulders dropped. 

_“Fine, okay, then let him join and we’ll do a 3-on-3”._

_“I just said that!”_

—

Tsukishima slid down the wall, totally exhausted. Hinata couldn’t hide his fond smile and handed him his water bottle. The blonde took it with a mumbled _’thanks’_ and drank what felt like half of the bottle. Haiba joined him on the ground and leant on him. The half Russian had gotten quite comfy over the past week and probably no idea what personal space meant. 

Bokuto joined on the other side, in no way exhausted or tired. Like Hinata, he was still practically vibrating with energy. Kuroo and Akaashi stood a bit off to the side and observed the four. 

“Ah, Kuroo-san, can I ask something?”, Hinata piqued up. Tsukishima tensed a bit, but forced himself to relax. The boy in question hummed and looked over at the red head. He swallowed the sip he just took from his bottle. 

“What is it?”, the ravenette answered, raising his eyebrows in question. Hinata looked serious. It reminded him of that time at the first day of the training camp, where he asked Kageyama to not hold back on him. The small boy was more terrifying than he seemed at first. 

Hinata lifted his shirt to reveal the painted wings on his chest. “Do you have this tattoo? It colored on the day I met you and Kenma, so I thought, maybe...”, he started confident, but ended up mumbling and trailed off. Tsukishima felt the two boys next to him stiffen. Then, before Kuroo could react, Bokuto jumped up. 

_“Dude, dude, holy shit! Dude!”_ , he ran up to Hinata and lifted him in his arms. The captain squeezed the first year close and twirled him around. “ _Holy shit! Tetsu! ‘Kaashi!_ ”, he kept shouting. Kuroo and Akaashi relaxed and rare smiles covered their faces. Tsukishima felt his heart tighten at the scene before him. Haiba jumped up next to him, stopping next to Bokuto and Hinata. 

“Bo- _Bo_ , chill, let him go. He’s gonna throw up”, Kuroo laughed, stepping up next to the three, followed by Akaashi. Bokuto stopped, pouting, but reluctantly lowered Hinata back onto his own feet. The red head looked up confused at the taller men around him. He looked absolutely tiny in the middle of those four. “You probably figured, but there’s more people than just the two of us who have this tattoo. ‘Kaashi, Lev and Bokuto have it too”, Kuroo explained, lifting his shirt to show off the painted wings on his chest. Bokuto ripped off his shirt to display his own on his shoulder blades. Haiba wanted to take off his top too, but Akaashi was quick enough this time to stop him. 

“Ah, yeah, I knew, because actually... um, there’s, another one with this tattoo, in Miyagi, um they..”, Hinata rambled, barely able to look at his soulmates, his gaze kept swaying over to Tsukishima. The blonde hoped the others didn’t notice. Why was Hinata being so obvious?

“Eh? So there’s a sixth one?”, Bokuto asked, tilting his head. Hinata nodded, eyes landing on Tsukishima again, before going back to his own feet. “They’re in Miyagi... so you can’t, meet them yet...”, he muttered, fumbling with the hem of his shirt. Kuroo nodded in understanding. Akaashi picked up Bokutos shirt and forced him into it again. The captain complained at first, but complied eventually. 

“Let’s get back to practice, we still have time for this later”, the Setter reasoned, collecting the half empty water bottles strewn and discarded across the floor. He went to put them on the side, next to Tsukishima. The blonde stiffened, trying to remind himself to breath. He took another gulp out of his bottle, to avoid looking at the other. Akaashi side glanced him with this weird glimmer in his eyes and it was definitely way too dangerous. “Sorry, this must be awkward for you”, his voice was monotone, but the look he gave Tsukishima wasn’t. It made him swallow heavily. The blonde quickly stood up to avoid being found out, though that was probably too late. He just hoped Akaashi would be sensitive enough to not mention anything. 

_“Don’t worry about it”._

—

Things changed in the 3rd gym after that evening. And now, Tsukishima kind of felt like it was a problem. It was _so_ awkward. _They_ were awkward. Kuroo and Bokuto had no trouble being even more open about their relationship, teasing and touching each other all the time. Haiba stopped leaning into him and being touchy and started doing it with the others instead, not that Tsukishima minded, he definitely didn’t miss the touch. Hinata spend a lot of time in Nekomas classroom, to the point where he slept there one night. The only one who took the change with grace was Akaashi, who didn’t really change a lot about his actions or behavior since they found out Hinatas their soulmate. It was a bit of a relief and a nice thing to steady himself with, Tsukishima thought. 

“Hey, Tsukishima, can you come with me to refill the water bottles?”, the Setter asked, holding most of their bottles already. The blonde didn’t see why he would need help with them, but still agreed, picking up the rest. Akaashi informed the others and went out the door. Tsukishima followed him. 

The sinks weren’t far from the 3rd gym, so they quickly arrived. Tsukishima put the bottles he was carrying down and started unscrewing the first one. Akaashi put his down too, but didn’t uncap them. The blonde gave him a confused side glance and noticed the Setter was staring at him. He swallowed heavily and put the bottle down again. He didn’t dare look at the other again. 

“What is it?”, he mumbled, lacing his fingers together. Tsukishima forced himself to not swallow again, hoping he didn’t seem to nervous. Akaashi didn’t say anything, but the blonde could still feel his eyes on him. He heard the other shuffle and glanced to the side to see that the Setter was leaning onto the sink, back turned to it. The bottles sat forgotten on the counter. 

“If I make you uncomfortable, it’s fine to tell me to... shut up, but I wanted to talk about this”, Akaashi started, metal colored eyes still boring into Tsukishima. The blonde could only nod silently. Akaashi took a small breath, before continuing. “You’re the sixth one in our bond, right?”, Tsukishima gave a small nod in confirmation, “I’m not going to tell the others, first off. I’ll let you do that yourself. Or if you’re too nervous, I can help you, if you want me too. Just ask. Hinata knows too, right?”, another short nod, “I figured, since you two are so close. I’m sure he’d support you too. And last...”, Akaashi trailed off. He pushed himself off the sink. His hand came up to his cheek, gently pushing Tsukishima to look at him. The blonde gave in with no resistance. His face felt too hot. 

“I’m not going to force you to tell them, but it’d be nice if maybe, some day you could. We’ve been waiting for you too, not just Hinata. Maybe something happened that made you wary of soulmate bonds, maybe not. That’s a thing for later, when you’re ready and seeking us out on your own. For now, just know that we’ll always wait for you and we’re always ready to take you in, yeah?”, Akaashi finished, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin of Tsukishimas cheek. The younger nodded, leaning into the calloused hand just a bit. The Setter caught it nonetheless and was happy to indulge the other for as long as he needed. 

When they made it back to the gym, they were bombarded with questions. They had taken way too long. Akaashi quickly spun some lie, which put the questions off for now, but Tsukishima caught Hinatas confused gaze and knew he’d be pestered with more questions later that day. With an exhausted sigh he side glanced Akaashi. The Setter just smirked at the two first years and joined Bokuto on one side of the net as Kuroo called to continue practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is, folks! The product that came from me having writers _block_. I hope its still acceptable ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> I think Akaashi would be very caring for his partner(s) like that, I kinda like that and have been thinking on how to write this for a while. I sadly didn't get the right emotions in and couldn't properly add them (´；ω；`)
> 
> Hope you still like it! (*'▽'*)


	8. Hello and Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Does it matter?”, Tsukishima replied, watching the wall like it was the most interesting thing ever. But somehow Akaashi thought it wasn’t the usual annoyed frown. There was a certain softness in his eyes that he couldn’t hide behind a mask. It made him smile slightly. Bokuto looked like Tsukishima had personally offended him with that response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long!! (°▽°)

“Akaashi-senpai, may I ask you for something?”, the Setter looked up at Tsukishima. He raised his brows, but otherwise his face remained stoic. 

“Sure, go ahead”, Akaashi prompted. Kneeling quickly, he put his water bottle back, before standing up again. His gaze went back to the tall blonde next to him. Tsukishima seemed nervous. He was doing the thing where he laced his fingers together and was avoiding eye contact. He looked like he was gathering the courage to ask for whatever it was that he wanted. Bokuto and Kuroo stood curiously watching in the background. Akaashi was glad they stayed quiet or else they might completely shatter whatever bravery Tsukishima build up for this. 

“Can I-... can you help me practice a slide?”, the blonde finally got out, his feet shuffling on the floor. A small huff escaped his lips. Most likely relief or something similar to it. 

“Sure, want to start right now?”, Akaashi replied leisurely. Another quiet sigh of relief passed Tsukishimas lips, followed by a nod. 

“Hey, hey, hey, wait up, I just noticed somethin’!”, Bokuto interrupted, rushing to join the two. Kuroo followed, albeit a little confused. Hinata and Haiba looked up as well from their task, having been tricked into collecting the balls by Kuroo just before, but didn’t move to join them. 

Bokuto jabbed an accusing finger into Tsukishimas chest. “You...”, Akaashi saw how the blonde swallowed and watched the other with wide eyes, “You only call Akaashi ‘ _Senpai_ ’! Why don’t you call us senpai, too?!” Tsukishima visibly relaxed. His eyebrows knitted together in an annoyed frown. Kuroo looked like a light bulb went off in his head. 

“That’s true, though. I don’t think I’ve seen Tsukki refer to anyone but Keiji as ‘ _Senpai_ ’. It’s always ‘ _-san_ ’, no?”, he added into the conversation, tapping his chin. Tsukishimas frown deepened. Akaashi noticed how Hinatas face lit up across the gym and he heard volleyballs being dropped to the ground. The red head ran over to join them, jumping onto Kuroos back. The captain already got used to that in the past days and quickly steadied him. 

“Does it matter?”, Tsukishima replied, watching the wall like it was the most interesting thing ever. But somehow Akaashi thought it wasn’t the usual annoyed frown. There was a certain softness in his eyes that he couldn’t hide behind a mask. It made him smile slightly. Haiba also joined them now, having put away the rest of the balls. Bokuto looked like Tsukishima had personally offended him with that response. 

“It does matter! Call me ‘ _Senpai_ ’!”, he demanded, stomping his foot. What a child. Akaashi rolled his eyes. 

“I’d rather not”, Bokuto was denied just like that, in Tsukishimas usual, polite but scathing manner. He was still not ready to give up yet, though and instead of deflating, continued pressing the matter. 

“Why not? It’s not that hard ‘ _Bo-kuto-sen-pai_ ’, see?”, he dragged the syllables of his own name. Kuroo was holding back his laughter and barely even holding Hinata up at this point. The red head just stuck to him like a koala. It was, frankly, adorable to look at. 

Akaashi wondered if he should cut between the bickering of Tsukishima and Bokuto. But they seemed to be having fun, especially now that Kuroo joined the conversation. Even if it was basically just a back and forth of ‘ _yes_ ’ and ‘ _no_ ’. 

“I’m a younger sibling, I can do this _all day_. Just give up now”.

“Well and I’m _obnoxious_! Call me ‘ _Senpai_ ’!”

Akaashi could barely hold back his snort. 

—

It had gotten late quickly. Even though it was summer, it was already dark outside. Akaashi sighed in relief, when Kuroo proposed a water break. They’d have to watch the time, or else they might miss dinner again. Last time they were lucky that Shirofuku walked by and informed them. 

The six boys went to grab their bottles at their own pace. Hinata, Haiba and Bokuto dashed ahead. Just watching them made Akaashi even more exhausted. Tsukishima and Kuroo trudged after them, talking. Since Tsukishima seemed to listen, Akaashi assumed it was advice instead of the usual bullshit that came out of Kuroos mouth. Akaashi stayed where he was for a moment, gathering his breath. 

He was used to longer practice, because of the extra tosses he always gave Bokuto when official club time was already over. But with four more people to look out for, training camp extra practice was more straining. Akaashi eventually went over to the group where Kuroo and Bokuto were already immersed within telling an intense story, with Hinata and Haiba listening intently. Tsukishima had his eyes closed and looked like he tried to ignore them the best he could. 

Haiba handed Akaashi his water bottle. He thanked him and sat down with them. While drinking, Akaashi partly listened to the story. It was about the first official match Bokuto and Kuroo ever played against each other. Akaashi wasn’t there, but from how he knew them, it was probably a lot less cool than they made it seem. He had asked Konoha about it once and while it was a good match, the two weren’t as good back then as they said they were. 

Akaashi put his bottle down. Tsukishima would have usually cut in with a snarky remark by now. He looked over to the blonde only to find that he wasn’t ignoring or tuning them out. 

_Tsukishima was sleeping._

Akaashi was totally baffled upon the discovery. Should he wake him? How did he even sleep with all that noise? Just as he reached out to shake Tsukishimas shoulder, Hinata grabbed his hand. Akaashis gaze snapped over to him and Hinata put a finger to his lips with a ‘ _shh!_ ’.   
He raised a questioning eyebrow, but put his hand back down. Hinata didn’t let go. 

“Tsukki does that a lot. When there’s a longer break in practice or some time left before a match, he just takes a nap”, Hinata grinned, looking at Tsukishima lovingly. It made him wonder what kind of relationship the two had. After all, Hinata knew Tsukishima was his soulmate. Akaashi nodded in understanding and he squeezed the red heads hand. 

Kuroo noticed the interaction and stopped the story, curious. When he spotted Hinata and Akaashi watching a sleeping Tsukishima he gasped and slapped Bokutos shoulder in excitement. Haiba and Bokuto got curious and looked over too. Akaashi watched as their eyes widened and smiled a little. They were all already so attached to Tsukishima and they didn’t even know about his tattoo. He wished the blonde could see that there was nothing to worry about. 

“Has anyone got a pen?”, Akaashis face fell, when Bokuto opened his mouth. Maybe there was something to worry about. Kuroo pushed his shoulder a little. 

“Bo, what the hell”, he whispered half heartedly. Bokuto just grinned, looking around. Haiba was ahead of him and had gotten a pen from _somewhere_. He raised it to Tsukishimas face and Akaashi tried to stop him. But just as it was a centimeter from his face, Tsukishimas hand gripped Haibas wrist and his eyes opened behind the glasses. 

“Don’t you _dare_ ”. 

Hinata and Bokuto couldn’t stop laughing. 

— 

It was the last full day of the training camp. 

Akaashi thought the whole day that something seemed off about Tsukishima. Maybe he snapped at people more quickly. Maybe he was fiddling with his fingers more often. Maybe he messed up more plays than usual. But it was so subtle that Akaashi wondered if it was just his imagination the whole day. 

Until the extra practice at the 3rd gym started. Tsukishima and Hinata were basically glued to each other’s side. Tsukishima was definitely quieter and seemed to be brooding on something. During water breaks Tsukishima and Hinata would sit a little off to the side, intensely discussing something, they couldn’t understand. Whenever someone tried to listen in, they’d stop talking. Akaashi picked up the confused side glances Kuroo send him and responded with equal confusion. 

His shoulders sagged a little as the ball landed on their side of the net again. Tsukishima hid his anxiety elegantly, so much that most of Karasuno didn’t even seem to notice. He could still play, even if he messed up a little once in a while. 

_Hinata_ , in contrast, _could barely stand on his own two feet._

It was like he was buzzing with excitement. Something was building up just beneath the surface, ready to boil over. Just as Kuroo proposed to end practice for today and they finished cleaning up the gym, it finally broke out. 

“Can you wait a bit longer? We’ve got something to tell y’all!”, Hinata got their attention by yelling. He was basically glowing and biting his lip to keep quiet. Tsukishima next to him looked paler than ever. He squeezed his hands together and took a step back. He looked like he was going to vomit. What were they planing?

“Uh... we just wanted to say thank you for teaching us-“, the blonde mumbled, glancing off to the side. The way he said it, it sounded like an excuse to get out of the situation. Hinata lost some of his glow and turned to Tsukishima. He broke him off with a whine. 

“You’re backing out now? You were so sure yesterday!”, Hinata complained, grabbing Tsukishimas hands. He squeezed them tightly. Tsukishima seemed to get reassured by that and took a deep breath. 

“Hey, uh, what’s going on-“, Kuroo tried, obviously concerned about the two first years. He was careful around Tsukishima since that first time he went too far and it showed. He didn’t want to scare him off. 

“ _I’m your last soulmate!_ ”, Tsukishima squeezed out, not quite as loud as was probably intended. His eyes were shut tightly and he clung onto Hinatas hands as if they were the only thing keeping him grounded. 

After the initial shock passed, Bokuto ran up to the two, engulfing the blonde in a tight hug. Haiba and Kuroo followed and eventually, Tsukishima became the center of a group hug. 

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”, Bokuto demanded, pulling away, just enough to look at Tsukishima. The blondes gaze was directed at the ground. He swallowed heavily. 

Kuroo opened his mouth to say something, but Tsukishima cut him off with a weak shake of his head. “I- I was scared, you wouldn’t like me or be disappointed that your last soulmate is someone like... _me_..”, he mumbled, still not looking at anyone. Akaashi noticed how Hinatas arms squeezed tighter around the blonde. With another deep breath, Tsukishima continued. “Um... I asked Shouyou to keep quiet too, because I didn’t know what you all were like or how you would react, when it’s... me”, his mutters trailed off. Even Bokuto and Haiba were quietly listening, waiting for what Tsukishima would say next. 

The blonde chewed on his lip, brooding over his next words, when Kuroo moved his arms and cupped the blondes cheeks. Gently he made Tsukishima lift his head so he could look at him. Kuroos expression was one Akaashi had long since burned into the back of his mind. It was so intensely loving and reassuring. Akaashi was sure only he, Bokuto and Kenma had it directed at them so far. Tsukishimas flush was well hidden under Kuroos hands, but the tips of his ears betrayed him. 

“You’re absolutely fine, Tsukki. I’m glad you told us”, Kuroo whispered, placing a short kiss on Tsukishimas nose. The blush spread out and Kuroo lowered his hands. A small smile spread across both their faces. 

“Hey, Kei, _Kei_ , I want a kiss too!!”, Hinata demanded, breaking the atmosphere. The other four froze, processing. 

“No way, that’s too embarrassing, wait till we’re home”, Tsukishima muttered, pulling away from Hinata. Haiba rested his chin on the blondes shoulder, looking curiously down at Hinata. 

“It’s fine, isn’t it? They’re our soulmates, who cares if they see?”, the red head insisted. He took that step forward that Tsukishima stepped back. 

“I care!”, the blonde retorted, his blush spreading out. Akaashi thought that the red looked good on his pale skin. 

“ _Pleeeaaaaase!_ ”, Hinata whined, fluttering his eyelashes jokingly. He got up on his tip toes and lent into Tsukishima, holding onto his shoulders to steady himself. With that he forced Haiba to move off of Tsukishima. 

“No!”, Tsukishima denied him again. Though Akaashi was almost sure his voice wavered. 

“Pretty please! I’ll take you to that bakery with the yummy cheesecakes again!”, Hinata kept pushing, leaning heavily into him. Tsukishima seemed to falter at that. He averted his eyes, thinking it over seemingly. He couldn’t fool Akaashi though, Tsukishima had already given in the moment Hinata first started arguing about it. 

“Ugh, _fine_ …”

Hinata reacted on the spot and reached up to cup the back of Tsukishimas neck to bring him down into the kiss. With Hinata on his tip toes and Tsukishima having to bend down even in the close proximity, it looked anything but comfortable. But still they seemed to enjoy themselves. Akaashi smiled and looked away. They probably didn’t get to be so close the whole week, so he’d let them be for now. Kuroo and Bokuto didn’t catch up. 

“ _Whaaat_ , I wanted Tsukkis first kiss!”, Kuroo whined and Bokuto agreed with an eager nod. The two first years parted from one another. Tsukishima sported a scowl that seemed unreal due to the huge blush that covered his cheeks. Hinata just grinned and sing songed ‘ _too bad!_ ’. 

“This is nice and all, but if I’m kept in the middle of this hug any longer I’m going to melt and I’m pretty sure your sweat has rubbed off onto me”, he tried to appear nonchalant, but the leftovers of his blush betrayed him. Everyone untangled themselves slowly and stepped off. Tsukishima took a deep breath, as of he’d almost been suffocated. 

When Akaashi looked at the time he noticed they missed the first few minutes of dinner. When he announced that, Bokuto and Hinata freaked out, running to the doors. “Hey, Kei, Lev, race you there!”, Hinata announced, turning around for only a second to grin at them. 

“Are you dumb?”, Tsukishima just deadpanned as Haiba ran past him to catch up with Hinata. Akaashi noticed how Kuroo reached for Tsukishimas hand and how the younger didn’t object when he intertwined their pinky fingers. Akaashi smiled silently to himself. 

_They were finally all together._

—

No one of them was looking forward to the next day after last night. Kuroo and Bokuto were hurrying their talk with Sawamura, eager to get to Hinata and Tsukishima. The two were waiting with Akaashi, Haiba and Kozume. Hinata was eager to exchange phone numbers, clinging onto Kozume. Due to the 3rd gym extra practice and Kozume vehemently refusing to do anymore training, they didn’t get to spend a lot of time together. 

When Kuroo and Bokuto finished they jogged over to the group, even if it was just a few meters. “Hey hey hey!!”, Bokuto shouted, basically jumping onto Tsukishimas back. The blonde almost fell over, unprepared for the impact and Bokuto quickly backed off. He still grinned brightly in the face of Tsukishimas annoyed scowl. Upon seeing Bokutos smile, Tsukishimas expression contorted more into something more like mild discontent. Bokutos smile widened. 

Kuroo threw an arm around Tsukishimas shoulders and tugged him close. “I can’t believe you’re leaving already, it feels like you just got here”, he complained, slumping into the blonde. Bokuto hung off of Hinatas shoulders now, typing his contact info into the red heads phone. 

“You sound like an old man, Kuro!”, Haiba laughed, getting an approving nod from Kozume. Kuroo whined in protest, leaning even more into Tsukishima. He had to get heavy at this point, but he didn’t complain. 

“Tsukki, _say something_!”, Kuroo complained, shaking him a little to get a different reaction than nonchalance. 

“You sound like an old man”, Tsukishima said and gained a snort from Akaashi and a bellowed laugh from Bokuto. Kozume smiled slightly. 

“He’s a sap too, good luck with that”, the bottle blonde added. He smirked at the whine Kuroo released and side glanced the two. 

“Yeah, no, I guessed that much already”, he responded flatly and winced a little when Kuroo whimpered _again_. Right into his ear. “Can’t you be quiet?”, he snapped at him, but it didn’t quite sound as harsh as it might have been intended. 

“Tsukkii!! You’re all so mean to me! My own team! My own soulmate!”, Kuroo tried to reason, though quieter this time, more careful of Tsukishimas ears. Akaashi hid a smile behind his hand. As his eyes swiped over the scene he noticed how the most of Karasuno was already on the bus. Sawamura and Sugawara were still waiting by the entrance, the only other still caught up talking was Tanaka. He and Yamamoto were gesturing wildly, the matching tattoos on their neck seeming to stand out. Maybe it was just that he finally had all of his soulmates with him that made Akaashi notice this. 

He caught Sugawaras gaze. It was urging the to hurry up. It pained Akaashi, but he would have to tell Tsukishima and Hinata. The others couldn’t bring themselves to bring it up, he knew. It was always like that when Bokuto and Kuroo would have to part after camp too. He guessed he didn’t mind being the voice of reason, but this was different. Bokuto and him could see Kuroo and Haiba everyday due to only living a short while away. Tsukishima and Hinata lived in Sendai. A five hour drive away. 

Akaashi took a small breath. “Hey, I think we have to get going”, he said, trying to sound nonchalant. Hinatas and Tsukishimas face fell. The red head lent back into Bokuto, grabbing Kozumes hand. Tsukishima squeezed the arm around his shoulders, before he pushed it off. The movement was reluctant, but still decided. 

“Come on, Shouyou”, he urged subtly, ruffling Hinatas hair lightly. The red head took a deep breath before nodding. He turned to hug Bokuto and then Kozume. He went around the circle like that, hugging each of his soulmates for a solid minute. It felt good, holding Hinata in his arms. He was soft and warm and it felt so reassuring. Akaashi understood now why Tsukishima held onto Hinata that much last night. 

The two trudged off to the bus after saying their goodbyes. They waved a last time when entering and just with that the bus took off to Miyagi. 

Akaashis phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to see what it was. He had been added into a new group chat. It was titled ‘ _Soulmates_ ’ with too many exclamation marks and a couple emojis. Akaashi smiled. Hinata had wasted no time in making the chat. Currently he was spamming it with short texts. Kuroo looked over his shoulder to see what Akaashi was smiling at and a grin spread across his face immediately. 

“He’s so cute. I’m gonna miss them”, Kuroo lamented, sighing. Akaashi gave an agreeing nod, putting his phone back into his pocket. 

_“Yeah, me too. But I’m sure we’ll see them at nationals again”._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s finally over!! I finished a multiple chapter fic for the first time!! Sorry you all had to wait so long for this! (*'▽'*)
> 
> Chapter 320 has cured my depression, gave me a will to live, watered my crops and added 10 years to my life span. That is all. (*´∀`)♪
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for sticking with me till the end!! ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

**Author's Note:**

> From what we know in canon Tsukki needs to get his ass kicked into gear to get up again, so while I prefer the fluffy way I chose that Yamaguchi would help him like this. 
> 
> This will probably become the longest fic I've written yet if I don't loose interest in the middle of it, but I just couldn't help thinking about third gym + Hinata and Lev in a soulmate AU, so I wrote it out. 
> 
> I got the second chapter ready and will upload it once I got the third chapter done. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it! (^O^)


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